JEE Main Physics: Syllabus, Units & Exam Pattern

Mechanics

• Ch 1 Units and Measurements

  SI units, fundamental and derived units, significant figures, errors, and dimensional analysis.

• Ch 2 Kinematics

  Motion in a straight line and a plane, uniformly accelerated motion, projectile and uniform circular motion, relative velocity.

• Ch 3 Laws of Motion

  Newton's laws, momentum and its conservation, friction, and the dynamics of uniform circular motion.

• Ch 4 Work, Energy and Power

  Work-energy theorem, kinetic and potential energy, conservation of mechanical energy, and collisions.

• Ch 5 Rotational Motion

  Centre of mass, torque, angular momentum and its conservation, moment of inertia, and the axes theorems.

• Ch 6 Gravitation

  Universal law of gravitation, variation of g, Kepler's laws, gravitational potential, escape and orbital velocity.

Properties of Matter, Heat & Thermodynamics

• Ch 7 Properties of Solids and Liquids

  Elasticity and moduli, fluid pressure, viscosity, Bernoulli's principle, surface tension, and heat transfer.

• Ch 8 Thermodynamics

  Zeroth, first and second laws, internal energy, isothermal and adiabatic processes, reversible and irreversible processes.

• Ch 9 Kinetic Theory of Gases

  Equation of state, kinetic interpretation of temperature, RMS speed, degrees of freedom, and equipartition of energy.

• Ch 10 Oscillations and Waves

  Simple harmonic motion and energy in SHM, the simple pendulum, wave motion, superposition, standing waves, and beats.

Electromagnetism

• Ch 11 Electrostatics

  Coulomb's law, electric field and dipoles, Gauss's law, electric potential, capacitors and capacitance.

• Ch 12 Current Electricity

  Ohm's law, resistivity, series and parallel combinations, emf and internal resistance, Kirchhoff's laws and the Wheatstone bridge.

• Ch 13 Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism

  Biot–Savart and Ampere's laws, force on moving charges and conductors, the moving-coil galvanometer, and magnetic materials.

• Ch 14 Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents

  Faraday's and Lenz's laws, self and mutual inductance, LCR circuits and resonance, AC generator and transformer.

• Ch 15 Electromagnetic Waves

  Displacement current, characteristics and transverse nature of EM waves, and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Optics & Modern Physics

• Ch 16 Optics

  Reflection and refraction, lens and mirror formulae, microscopes and telescopes, Huygens' principle, interference, diffraction and polarization.

• Ch 17 Dual Nature of Matter and Radiation

  Photoelectric effect and Einstein's equation, particle nature of light, and matter waves (de Broglie relation).

• Ch 18 Atoms and Nuclei

  Rutherford and Bohr models, hydrogen spectrum, mass defect and binding energy, nuclear fission and fusion.

• Ch 19 Electronic Devices

  Semiconductors and diodes, the diode as a rectifier, LED, photodiode, solar cell, Zener diode, and logic gates.

• Ch 20 Experimental Skills

  Familiarity with laboratory measurements — vernier calipers, screw gauge, resonance tube, metre bridge, p–n junction characteristics and more.

Point to the Method

Names the tool to reach for (e.g. "Use an equation of uniformly accelerated motion") without giving the answer.

Guided Reasoning Prompt

Prompts the key idea (e.g. "The body starts from rest, so what is the initial velocity?").

Complete Worked Solution

Shows the full step-by-step working and explains why the answer is correct.

Build Mechanics First

Mechanics underpins Rotational Motion, Gravitation and Oscillations — get the laws of motion and energy solid before moving on.

Practise Numerical-Value Questions

Section B answers are entered as a number, so train accurate calculation and correct rounding to the nearest integer.

Mind the Negative Marking

Both sections penalise wrong answers (−1), so attempt only questions you can reason through rather than guessing blindly.

How many units are in the JEE Main Physics syllabus?

The official JEE (Main) 2026 Paper 1 Physics syllabus has 20 units, from Units and Measurements and Kinematics through to Electronic Devices and a dedicated Experimental Skills unit. Always confirm the current syllabus on the official NTA website.

How many questions and marks does Physics carry in JEE Main?

In Paper 1, Physics has 25 questions — 20 multiple-choice in Section A and 5 numerical-value questions in Section B — for 100 marks, with equal weightage to Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

Is there negative marking in JEE Main Physics?

Yes. A correct answer scores +4 and an incorrect answer scores −1 in both Section A and Section B. Unanswered questions score 0.

Does JEE Main Physics include experiments?

Yes. Unit 20, Experimental Skills, covers familiarity with laboratory measurements such as vernier calipers, the screw gauge, the resonance tube, the metre bridge and p–n junction characteristic curves.