IIT-JAM-Syllabus and Exam Instructions
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Exam Instructions
Time: 3 Hours, Maximum Marks: 100
Mode of Exam: Online
1. The examination is of 3 hours duration. There are a total of 60 questions carrying 100 marks. The entire paper is divided into three sections, A, B and C. All sections are compulsory. Questions in each section are of different types.
2. Section – A contains a total of 30 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). Each MCQ type question has four choices out of which only one choice is the correct answer. Questions Q1.-Q30. Belong to this section and carry a total of 50 marks. Q1. – Q10. carry 1 mark each and Questions Q11. – Q30. carry 2 marks each.
3. Section – B contains a total of 10 Multiple Select Questions (MSQ). Each MSQ type question is similar to MCQ but with a difference that there may be one or more than one choice(s) that are correct out of the four given choices. The candidate gets full credit if he/she selects all the correct answers only and no wrong answers. Questions Q31. – Q40. belong to this section and carry 2 marks each with a total of 20 marks.
4. Section – C contains a total of 20 Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions. For these NAT type questions, the answer is a real number which needs to be entered using the virtual keyboard on the monitor. No choices will be shown for these type of questions. Questions Q41. – Q60. belong to this section and carry a total of 30 marks. Q41. – Q50. carry 1 mark each and Questions Q51. – Q60. carry 2 marks each.
5. In all sections, questions not attempted will result in zero mark. In Section – A (MCQ), wrong answer will result in NEGATIVE marks. For all 1 mark questions, 1/3 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer. For all 2 marks questions, 2/3 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer. In Section – B (MSQ), there is NO NEGATIVE and NO PARTIAL marking provisions. There is NO NEGATIVE marking in Section – C (NAT) as well.
6. Only Virtual Scientific Calculator is allowed. Charts, graph sheets, tables, cellular phone or other electronic gadgets are NOT allowed in the examination hall.
7. The Scribble Pad will be provided for rough work.
Syllabus
Mathematical Methods
Calculus of single and multiple variables, partial derivatives, Jacobian, imperfect and perfect differentials, Taylor expansion, Fourier series. Vector algebra, Vector Calculus, Multiple integrals, Divergence theorem, Green’s theorem, Stokes’ theorem. First order equations and linear second order differential equations with constant coefficients. Matrices and determinants, Algebra of complex numbers. Error analysis of Experimental Data: Significant digits and rounding of numbers, Types of errors, mean, median, standard deviation.
Mechanics and General Properties of Matter
Newton’s laws of motion and applications, Velocity and acceleration in Cartesian, polar and cylindrical coordinate systems, uniformly rotating frame, centrifugal and Coriolis forces, Motion under a central force, Kepler’s laws, Gravitational Law and field, Conservative and non-conservative forces. System of particles, Center of mass, equation of motion of the CM, conservation of linear and angular momentum, conservation of energy, variable mass systems. Elastic and inelastic collisions. Rigid body motion, fixed axis rotations, rotation and translation, moments of Inertia and products of Inertia, parallel and perpendicular axes theorem. Principal moments and axes. Kinematics of moving fluids, equation of continuity, Euler’s equation, Bernoulli’s theorem.
Oscillations, Waves and Optics
Differential equation for simple harmonic oscillator and its general solution. Superposition of two or more simple harmonic oscillators. Lissajous figures. Damped and forced oscillators, resonance. Wave equation, traveling and standing waves in one-dimension. Energy density and energy transmission in waves. Group velocity and phase velocity. Sound waves in media. Doppler Effect. Fermat’s Principle. General theory of image formation. Thick lens, thin lens and lens combinations. Interference of light, optical path retardation. Fraunhofer diffraction. Rayleigh criterion and resolving power. Diffraction gratings. Polarization: linear, circular and elliptic polarization. Double refraction and optical rotation.
Electricity and Magnetism
Coulomb’s law, Gauss’s law. Electric field and potential. Electrostatic boundary conditions, Solution of Laplace’s equation for simple cases. Conductors, capacitors, dielectrics, dielectric polarization, volume and surface charges, electrostatic energy. Biot-Savart law, Ampere’s law, Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, Self and mutual inductance. Alternating currents. Simple DC and AC circuits with R, L and C components. Displacement current, Maxwell’s equations and plane electromagnetic waves, Poynting’s theorem, reflection and refraction at a dielectric interface, transmission and reflection coefficients (normal incidence only). Lorentz Force and motion of charged particles in electric and magnetic fields.
Kinetic Theory, Thermodynamics
Elements of Kinetic theory of gases. Velocity distribution and Equipartition of energy. Specific heat of Mono-, di- and tri-atomic gases. Ideal gas, van-der-Waals gas and equation of state. Mean free path. Laws of thermodynamics. Zeroth law and concept of thermal equilibrium. First law and its consequences. Isothermal and adiabatic processes. Reversible, irreversible and quasi-static processes. Second law and entropy. Carnot cycle. Maxwell’s thermodynamic relations and simple applications. Thermodynamic potentials and their applications. Phase transitions and Clausius-Clapeyron equation. Ideas of ensembles, Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi- Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions.
Modern Physics
Inertial frames and Galilean invariance. Postulates of special relativity. Lorentz transformations. Length contraction, time dilation. Relativistic velocity addition theorem, mass energy equivalence. Blackbody radiation, photoelectric effect, Compton effect, Bohr’s atomic model, X-rays. Wave-particle duality, Uncertainty principle, the superposition principle, calculation of expectation values, Schrödinger equation and its solution for one, two and three dimensional boxes. Solution of Schrödinger equation for the one dimensional harmonic oscillator. Reflection and transmission at a step potential, Pauli exclusion principle. Structure of atomic nucleus, mass and binding energy. Radioactivity and its applications. Laws of radioactive decay.
Solid State Physics, Devices and Electronics
Crystal structure, Bravais lattices and basis. Miller indices. X-ray diffraction and Bragg’s law; Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, variation of resistivity with temperature. Fermi level. p-n junction diode, I-V characteristics, Zener diode and its applications, BJT: characteristics in CB, CE, CC modes. Single stage amplifier, two stage R-C coupled amplifiers. Simple Oscillators: Barkhausen condition, sinusoidal oscillators. OPAMP and applications: Inverting and non- inverting amplifier. Boolean algebra: Binary number systems; conversion from one system to another system; binary addition and subtraction. Logic Gates AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR exclusive OR; Truth tables; combination of gates; de Morgan’s theorem.