In the 36 JEE (Advanced) papers set from 2008 to 2025, the heaviest chapters are Integral Calculus in Mathematics (11% of the subject), Electrostatics and Optics in Physics (11% and 10%), and p-Block Elements in Chemistry (9%). Ten chapters carry 76% of Mathematics and 75% of Physics; Chemistry is wider, with its top ten at 62%. Over the same years the paper has become shorter, and the kinds of question have moved toward numerical answers and matching lists.
Here are the tables, how the mix has changed between the first and second halves of those eighteen years, and what the question kinds have done.
How many questions does JEE Advanced have per subject?
Fewer than it used to. In our count, the two papers of 2008 held 135 questions between them, 22.5 per subject per paper. The papers of 2016 to 2020 held 108, or 18.0 per subject per paper. The 2025 papers held 96, or 16.0. Across all 36 papers the count is 2,064 questions, 688 in each subject, an average of 19.1 per subject per paper.
The pattern itself is not published in advance; as our post on JEE (Advanced) marking explains, the number of questions, their kinds and their marks are revealed on the paper. That is one reason a long run of papers is worth more here than for most exams: it shows what survives the changes.
Which Mathematics chapters carry the most weight in JEE Advanced?
688 Mathematics questions across 36 papers.
| Chapter | Questions in 36 papers | Average per paper | Share of Mathematics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integral Calculus | 77 | 2.1 | 11% |
| Conic Sections | 65 | 1.8 | 9% |
| Trigonometry | 58 | 1.6 | 8% |
| Matrices and Determinants | 56 | 1.6 | 8% |
| Probability | 54 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Limits, Continuity and Differentiability | 50 | 1.4 | 7% |
| Applications of Derivatives | 49 | 1.4 | 7% |
| Vector Algebra | 39 | 1.1 | 6% |
| Three Dimensional Geometry | 37 | 1.0 | 5% |
| Complex Numbers | 37 | 1.0 | 5% |
The top five are 45% of the subject; the top ten, 76%. Below them come Circles (30), Sequences and Series (28), Differential Equations (28), Permutations and Combinations (25), Sets, Relations and Functions (18) and Quadratic Equations (17). Straight Lines and Binomial Theorem have 9 questions each across all 36 papers, and Statistics 2.
Eight Mathematics chapters appeared in every one of the eighteen years: Integral Calculus, Conic Sections, Trigonometry, Matrices and Determinants, Probability, Vector Algebra, Sequences and Series and Differential Equations.
Compare this with JEE (Main), where our chapter-wise count puts Three Dimensional Geometry third and Probability thirteenth. In Advanced, Probability is fifth and Trigonometry third. Calculus still leads both, but Advanced rewards Probability and Conic Sections more than Main does.
Which Physics chapters carry the most weight in JEE Advanced?
688 Physics questions across 36 papers.
| Chapter | Questions in 36 papers | Average per paper | Share of Physics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrostatics | 73 | 2.0 | 11% |
| Optics | 71 | 2.0 | 10% |
| Properties of Bulk Matter | 68 | 1.9 | 10% |
| Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body | 55 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Atoms and Nuclei | 53 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Oscillations and Waves | 50 | 1.4 | 7% |
| Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents | 40 | 1.1 | 6% |
| Thermodynamics | 39 | 1.1 | 6% |
| Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism | 38 | 1.1 | 6% |
| Physical World and Measurement | 31 | 0.9 | 5% |
The top five are 47% of Physics and the top ten 75%. Six chapters appeared in every year: Electrostatics, Optics, Properties of Bulk Matter, Atoms and Nuclei, Oscillations and Waves and Thermodynamics.
What is light is as telling as what is heavy. Kinematics has 22 questions in 36 papers, Laws of Motion 24, Work, Energy and Power 24. These are the foundations every other mechanics question stands on, but Advanced rarely asks them alone; it asks them inside rotation, fluids and oscillations. A student who reads "Kinematics: 3%" and leaves it has misread the table.
Inside the heavy chapters: Gauss's law is the largest single topic in Electrostatics (23 of 73), lenses and mirrors in Optics (20 of 71), and fluid mechanics in Properties of Bulk Matter (20 of 68).
Which Chemistry chapters carry the most weight in JEE Advanced?
688 Chemistry questions across 36 papers.
| Chapter | Questions in 36 papers | Average per paper | Share of Chemistry |
|---|---|---|---|
| p-Block Elements | 64 | 1.8 | 9% |
| Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids | 51 | 1.4 | 7% |
| Coordination Compounds | 50 | 1.4 | 7% |
| Thermodynamics | 43 | 1.2 | 6% |
| Hydrocarbons | 43 | 1.2 | 6% |
| Organic Chemistry: Some Basic Principles and Techniques | 39 | 1.1 | 6% |
| Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure | 31 | 0.9 | 5% |
| Electrochemistry | 29 | 0.8 | 4% |
| Chemical Kinetics | 26 | 0.7 | 4% |
| Equilibrium | 26 | 0.7 | 4% |
Chemistry is the widest subject in Advanced, as it is in Main. The top five are 36% and the top ten 62%. Principles of Qualitative Analysis (26), Solutions (26), Amines (25), Structure of Atom (25) and Biomolecules (24) each sit just below the table. Only three Chemistry chapters appeared in every year: p-Block Elements, Thermodynamics and Coordination Compounds.
Group 15 elements carry nearly half of p-Block (29 of 64). In Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids, aldol and Cannizzaro reactions (16) and nucleophilic addition (15) lead.
One difference from Main deserves attention. d- and f-Block Elements is the sixth heaviest Chemistry chapter in our Main count, and in Advanced it has 12 questions across 36 papers, under 2% of the subject. Haloalkanes and Haloarenes is similar: 10 questions. Main's priorities do not carry over unchanged.
Has JEE Advanced chapter weightage changed since 2008?
At the top, very little. Splitting the eighteen years into two halves of nine, 2008 to 2016 and 2017 to 2025:
| Chapter | 2008 to 2016 | 2017 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Integral Calculus | 12% | 11% |
| Conic Sections | 10% | 8% |
| Trigonometry | 8% | 9% |
| Probability | 7% | 9% |
| Electrostatics | 10% | 11% |
| Optics | 10% | 11% |
| Properties of Bulk Matter | 10% | 10% |
| Atoms and Nuclei | 9% | 6% |
| Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents | 5% | 7% |
| Thermodynamics (Physics) | 4% | 7% |
| p-Block Elements | 9% | 10% |
| Organic Chemistry: Basic Principles and Techniques | 7% | 4% |
| Hydrocarbons | 5% | 7% |
| Amines | 3% | 5% |
The three Physics leaders held their place across both halves, and so did Integral Calculus and p-Block. The movement is in the second rank: Atoms and Nuclei and the Organic basic principles chapter lost ground, while Physics Thermodynamics, Electromagnetic Induction, Probability, Hydrocarbons and Amines gained.
In the most recent five years alone, 2021 to 2025, the leaders are Integral Calculus (11% of Mathematics), Probability and Conic Sections (10% each), Optics (12% of Physics), Electrostatics (11%), and p-Block (9% of Chemistry). That is the long-run order with Probability pulling level.
Year by year the picture is far noisier than this. With 16 to 23.5 questions per subject per paper, a chapter's share swings widely between years; Integral Calculus was 20% of Mathematics in 2015 and 6% in 2025 in our count. Plan on the long-run share, not on last year's paper.
How have JEE Advanced question kinds changed over the years?
Across all 36 papers, this is the mix of question kinds in our count:
| Kind | Questions in 36 papers | Share | Average per subject per paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numerical value | 624 | 30% | 5.8 |
| Multiple correct | 585 | 28% | 5.4 |
| Single correct | 461 | 22% | 4.3 |
| Comprehension | 219 | 11% | 2.0 |
| Matching list | 112 | 5% | 1.0 |
| Matrix match | 39 | 2% | 0.4 |
| Assertion and reason | 24 | 1% | 0.2 |
The mix is the same in all three subjects to within a question or two, because the papers have set the same sections for Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
Our count holds kinds for the eighteen years together, not year by year, so for the recent shape we use the papers set out in our marking post. Put the two side by side and the direction is clear:
- Assertion and reason, and matrix match, belong to the earlier papers. Neither appears in any 2021 to 2025 paper in that post. All 24 assertion-and-reason questions and all 39 matrix-match questions in our count therefore come from 2008 to 2020.
- Numerical questions have grown. The recent papers set 6 to 8 numerical questions per subject in a paper, against a long-run average of 5.8 across all 36 papers.
- Matching lists arrived as a section. From 2022 to 2025, Paper 1 carried 3 or 4 matching questions per subject. The long-run average is 1.0 per subject per paper, a third to a quarter of that.
- Multiple correct has shrunk in number but not gone. Recent papers set 3 to 6 per subject in a paper, against a long-run 5.4. Its partial marking, explained in the marking post, still rewards leaving out an option you cannot justify.
- Comprehension comes and goes. It appears in some recent papers and not others.
Different chapters lean on different kinds. Properties of Bulk Matter is 46% numerical in our count and Vector Algebra 44%. Matrices and Determinants is 41% multiple correct, Electrostatics 37% and p-Block 38%. Probability (24%), Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids (24%) and Atoms and Nuclei (23%) lean on comprehension passages more than most. If you practise a chapter only in single-correct form, you are practising a kind that is 22% of the paper.
How we counted
We counted every question in the complete previous-year papers held in the Nikaalle database, each classified to the NCERT-based chapter and topic it tests. Papers with pages missing from the official file are left out.
For JEE (Advanced) that is 36 papers, Paper 1 and Paper 2 of every year from 2008 to 2025: 2,064 questions, 688 per subject.
The limits:
- The classification is ours. Advanced questions often join two chapters; a block on an incline in a rotating frame could be filed under three. Each question is filed under one chapter, and a careful reader might move some.
- Kinds are counted overall, not by year. The trend in kinds above is drawn from the overall count together with the recent papers listed in our marking post.
- Small numbers per year. One paper per subject is 16 to 23.5 questions, so a single year's shares swing widely.
- Comprehension questions are counted one by one. A passage with three questions counts as three.
- The pattern is not fixed. It is announced on the paper, and nothing here predicts next year's.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the most important chapter for JEE Advanced Mathematics?
Integral Calculus: 77 questions in 36 papers, 11% of the subject, and it appeared in every year from 2008 to 2025. Conic Sections (9%), Trigonometry, Matrices and Determinants and Probability (8% each) follow.
Which Physics chapters carry the most weight in JEE Advanced?
Electrostatics (73 questions, 11%), Optics (71, 10%) and Properties of Bulk Matter (68, 10%). All three appeared in every year we counted, and together they are 31% of Physics.
Which Chemistry chapters are most important for JEE Advanced?
p-Block Elements (64 questions, 9%), then Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids (51) and Coordination Compounds (50), at 7% each. Chemistry is spread wider than the other two subjects; its top ten chapters are 62% of it.
Is JEE Advanced chapter weightage different from JEE Main?
At the top they agree on Integral Calculus, Electrostatics and Optics. Below that they differ: Probability and Trigonometry count for more in Advanced, and d- and f-Block Elements, a heavy chapter in Main, is under 2% of Advanced Chemistry.
Which question kinds appear most in JEE Advanced?
Across 36 papers, numerical value (30%), multiple correct (28%) and single correct (22%). Assertion and reason and matrix match appear only in papers up to 2020, and matching lists have become a regular section since 2022.
How many questions does JEE Advanced have per subject?
It varies: in our count, 22.5 per subject per paper in 2008, 18.0 from 2016 to 2020 and 16.0 in 2025. The pattern is announced on the paper itself each year.
What to do with these numbers
- Build depth in the chapters that appear every year. Integral Calculus, Conic Sections, Probability, Electrostatics, Optics, Properties of Bulk Matter, p-Block and Coordination Compounds. In Advanced, depth means problems that join two ideas, not more problems of one idea.
- Do not drop the light mechanics chapters. Kinematics and Laws of Motion are light because they are hidden inside heavier ones.
- Practise each heavy chapter in every kind. Numerical without options, multiple correct with partial marking, and at least some matching lists. Our negative marking post covers when a guess is worth it.
- Use Main's tables for Main and these for Advanced. The order changes between the two, and the switch happens after your April Main session.
The JEE (Advanced) page shows how our mocks mix these kinds and mark each by its own scheme, and pricing has what is included.
Sources
- Nikaalle analysis of 36 previous-year JEE (Advanced) papers, 2008 to 2025 (method above)
- https://jeeadv.ac.in
- https://ncert.nic.in
Checked against the official sources on 25 October 2026.