JEE (Advanced) · Physics
Experimental Skills: JEE Advanced PYQ, 2007–2026
Experimental Skills (Physics) has been asked 19 times in the 40 JEE (Advanced) papers from 2007–2026: about 0.5 questions a paper, 3% of all Physics questions. It is the 17th most-asked of 19 Physics chapters. The two 2026 papers had 1 from it. Last checked 28 October 2026.
Questions per year, both papers
Year by year.
| Year | Questions |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 2in 2 papers |
| 2008 | 0in 2 papers |
| 2009 | 2in 2 papers |
| 2010 | 2in 2 papers |
| 2011 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2012 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2013 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2014 | 2in 2 papers |
| 2015 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2016 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2017 | 0in 2 papers |
| 2018 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2019 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2020 | 0in 2 papers |
| 2021 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2022 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2023 | 0in 2 papers |
| 2024 | 0in 2 papers |
| 2025 | 1in 2 papers |
| 2026 | 1in 2 papers |
Each year has two papers, and the number of questions has fallen over time, so compare per paper and expect some drift.
Inside the chapter
Topics asked most.
- Vernier calipers and screw gauge9
- Heat and sound experiments5
- Optics experiments3
- Electricity experiments1
- Properties of matter experiments1
Try it
10 Experimental Skills questions to practise.
Our own questions, written in the JEE Advanced pattern and checked, each with an explanation. Pick an option to see the answer.
Q1 · Physics · Experimental Skills
When a metal wire is stretched, its length increases and its diameter decreases. The ratio of the magnitude of the lateral strain to the longitudinal strain, taken as a positive number, is called which of the following?
Answer: (A)
A stretched wire elongates longitudinally and contracts laterally. Both strains are dimensionless, so their ratio is a dimensionless number. The ratio of the magnitudes of lateral to longitudinal strain is Poisson's ratio. The other three names belong to moduli, which are ratios of stress to strain and are measured in pascals.
Q2 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In a cooling-curve experiment, hot water in a calorimeter is kept in surroundings at 30 °C. It cools from 80 °C to 60 °C in the first 10 minutes. Assuming Newton's law of cooling holds, what is the temperature of the water after a further 10 minutes?
Answer: (A)
Newton's law of cooling gives an exponential decay of the excess temperature θ − θ₀, so in equal time intervals it is multiplied by the same factor. In the first 10 min, the excess falls from 80 − 30 = 50 °C to 60 − 30 = 30 °C, a factor of 0.6. In the next 10 min the excess becomes 30 × 0.6 = 18 °C, so the temperature is 30 + 18 = 48 °C. (This is why a plot of ln(θ − θ₀) against t is a straight line.)
Q3 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In an experiment to find the density of an irregular metal piece, a student weighs it with a spring balance. The weight in air is W_a = 5.00 N and the weight when fully immersed in water is W_w = 4.00 N. Each reading has an uncertainty of ±0.05 N. The density is calculated from ρ = ρ_water × W_a/(W_a − W_w), and the density of water is taken as exact. What is the maximum percentage error in the calculated density?
Answer: (A)
Since ρ = ρ_w W_a/(W_a − W_w), the maximum fractional error is Δρ/ρ = ΔW_a/W_a + Δ(W_a − W_w)/(W_a − W_w). For a difference, the absolute errors add: Δ(W_a − W_w) = 0.05 + 0.05 = 0.10 N. So Δρ/ρ = 0.05/5.00 + 0.10/1.00 = 0.01 + 0.10 = 0.11, which is 11%. The small difference of two nearly equal readings dominates the error.
Q4 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In a Newton's law of cooling experiment, a liquid is cooled in a vessel placed in a room. The rate at which the liquid's temperature falls is found to be proportional to which quantity?
Answer: (A)
For small temperature differences, Newton's law of cooling says dT/dt = −k(T − T₀), where T₀ is the surrounding temperature. So the rate of fall of temperature is proportional to the excess temperature above the surroundings. Hence the liquid cools faster when it is much hotter than the room and approaches room temperature asymptotically.
Q5 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In a Newton's law of cooling experiment, hot water in a calorimeter cools from 70 °C to 60 °C in 5.0 min. The surroundings are at 30 °C. Assuming the average-temperature form of Newton's law applies for each small interval, how long will the water take to cool from 60 °C to 50 °C?
Answer: (A)
Newton's law gives (T₁ − T₂)/t = k[(T₁ + T₂)/2 − T₀]. For the first interval, 10/5 = k(65 − 30) = 35k, so k = 2/35 min⁻¹. For the second interval the mean excess is 55 − 30 = 25 °C, so 10/t = (2/35)(25), which gives t = 7.0 min. The time is longer because the water loses heat more slowly as it gets closer to the room temperature.
Q6 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In a resonance tube experiment (air column closed at one end), a tuning fork of frequency f = 500 ± 5 Hz is used. The first and second resonances are found at air-column lengths L1 = 17.0 cm and L2 = 51.0 cm, and each length has an uncertainty of ±0.1 cm. The speed of sound is calculated from v = 2f(L2 − L1), so the unknown end correction cancels. What is the speed of sound with its maximum possible absolute error?
Answer: (A)
Principle: for successive resonances in a closed pipe, L2 − L1 = λ/2, so v = fλ = 2f(L2 − L1). The end correction cancels in the difference. In the maximum-error method, the fractional errors of the factors in a product are added, and the absolute errors of quantities that are subtracted are added. Apply this here. L2 − L1 = 34.0 cm, so v = 2 × 500 × 0.340 = 340 m/s. Δ(L2 − L1) = 0.1 + 0.1 = 0.2 cm, so its fractional error is 0.2/34.0 = 0.588%. The frequency error is 5/500 = 1%. The total fractional error is 1.588%, so Δv = 340 × 0.01588 ≈ 5.4 m/s. The result is v = 340 ± 5.4 m/s.
Q7 · Physics · Experimental Skills
To find the focal length of a concave lens, it is placed in contact with a convex lens of focal length 10 cm. The combination forms a real image, and the u–v method gives its focal length as 25 cm. What is the focal length of the concave lens?
Answer: (A)
For thin lenses in contact, 1/F = 1/f1 + 1/f2. A concave lens alone cannot form a real image, so it is paired with a stronger convex lens. Here 1/f2 = 1/F − 1/f1 = 1/25 − 1/10 = (2 − 5)/50 = −3/50 cm⁻¹, so f2 = −50/3 ≈ −16.7 cm. The negative sign is consistent with a diverging lens, and the combination's focal length (25 cm) is longer than the convex lens's (10 cm).
Q8 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In an experiment to find the coefficient of viscosity of glycerine, a steel ball of diameter 4.0 mm (density 8000 kg m⁻³) falls through a tall jar of glycerine (density 1260 kg m⁻³). It covers 0.50 m at terminal velocity in 12.5 s. Taking g = 9.8 m s⁻² and using Stokes' law, what is the coefficient of viscosity of glycerine?
Answer: (D)
At terminal velocity, weight = buoyancy + viscous drag. This gives (4/3)πr³(ρ−σ)g = 6πηrv, so η = 2r²(ρ−σ)g/(9v). The radius is r = 2.0 mm = 2.0×10⁻³ m, so r² = 4.0×10⁻⁶ m². The speed is v = 0.50/12.5 = 0.040 m/s. The density difference is ρ − σ = 8000 − 1260 = 6740 kg m⁻³. Then η = 2 × 4.0×10⁻⁶ × 6740 × 9.8 / (9 × 0.040) = 0.5284/0.36 ≈ 1.47 Pa s.
Q9 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In the laboratory, the forward I–V characteristic of a silicon junction diode was plotted with a milliammeter in series with the diode. The same diode is now to be used for its reverse characteristic, at voltages well below breakdown. Which change to the set-up is appropriate?
Answer: (A)
A p–n junction is reverse biased when the p-side is joined to the negative terminal of the battery, so the diode connections must be reversed. Below breakdown, only minority carriers cross the junction, so the reverse current is of the order of microamperes (far smaller than the forward milliampere currents). A microammeter is therefore needed to measure it. Keeping the milliammeter, or making it less sensitive with a shunt, would give almost no reading, and leaving the polarity unchanged does not give reverse bias at all.
Q10 · Physics · Experimental Skills
In an experiment to measure the surface tension of water, a clean glass capillary of inner diameter 0.50 mm is clamped so that its axis makes 60° with the vertical, with its lower end dipping in water. The angle of contact of water with clean glass may be taken as zero. The length of the water column measured along the tube, from the free water surface outside to the meniscus, is 8.0 cm. Take ρ = 1000 kg m⁻³ and g = 9.8 m s⁻². What is the surface tension of water from these data?
Answer: (B)
At equilibrium the meniscus is supported by surface tension, giving rise h = 2T cosθ/(rρg). Here h is the vertical height of the meniscus above the free surface. It does not depend on how the tube is tilted; only the length along the tube changes. Vertical height h = l cos 60° = 8.0 cm × 0.5 = 4.0 cm. The radius is half the diameter, r = 0.25 mm = 2.5×10⁻⁴ m. With θ = 0, T = rhρg/2 = (2.5×10⁻⁴ × 0.040 × 1000 × 9.8)/2 = 0.049 N m⁻¹.
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All 19 real JEE Advanced questions from Experimental Skills.
The questions from the actual papers, with the official answer and an explanation for each — chapter by chapter, or as full timed papers.
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About Experimental Skills in JEE Advanced.
How many questions come from Experimental Skills in JEE Advanced?
Experimental Skills (Physics) has been asked 19 times in the 40 JEE (Advanced) papers from 2007–2026: about 0.5 questions a paper, 3% of all Physics questions. It is the 17th most-asked of 19 Physics chapters. The two 2026 papers had 1 from it.
Which topics of Experimental Skills are asked most in JEE Advanced?
Vernier calipers and screw gauge (9), Heat and sound experiments (5), Optics experiments (3), Electricity experiments (1), counted over the papers from 2007–2026.
Is Experimental Skills important for JEE Advanced 2027?
It is in the syllabus in force, so it can be asked. By past papers it ranks 17 of 19 in Physics; use that to decide how much time it gets, not whether to study it.
Where can I solve Experimental Skills JEE Advanced previous year questions?
On Nikaalle, free: sign up and practise every past JEE Advanced question from Experimental Skills with an explanation for each, or sit the full papers timed. The ten questions on this page are our own, written in the same pattern.
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