JEE ADVANCED 2018 Paper-1 and Paper-2

JEE Advanced 2018 was conducted on 20th May 2018 and this is the first of its kind conducted in the online mode. Slightly over 231,000 students were qualified to appear for the exam, but only over 160,000 registered for the exams and about 155,000 appeared for the online examination. Paper 1 was conducted in the morning 9.00 to 12.00 hours and Paper 2 was conducted in the afternoon 14.00 to 17.00 hours.

The students had the opportunity to try out the interface before the examination through the model tests hosted by the JEE Advanced website. The online exam required no knowledge of operating the computers except clicking the mouse. The questions inside each section were shuffled; the students were free to start from any section they wanted and to move across sections or questions.

Paper 1

The paper as a whole was moderately difficult as per students. No new pattern of question was seen. But the question pattern was, of course, different from any of the previous years. There were 18 x 3 = 54 questions altogether and the total marks were 60 x 3 = 180.

The negatives for the one or more correct options type was heavier than usual (–2) but the Numerical answer type questions did not have negative marking. Also numerical answer type questions could have up to two decimal places to be entered using an onscreen numeric key pad.

The question pattern is as shown below:

Type of question	No. Of questions	Negative marking	Total marks
One or more than one Correct options type*	6	-2	6 x 4 = 24
Numerical answer type	8	0	8 x 3 = 24
Paragraph based (single correct) type	4	-1	4 x 3 = 12

* One or more correct option(s) type questions awarded partial marks, detailed instructions to this effect were provided to the students.

Physics

In the Physics part, questions were of moderate difficulty level. Actually the questions were less demanding than the earlier year papers. The first set of paragraph questions (from Electricity & magnetism) was very easy and questions from Heat and Thermodynamics were also considered easy by the students.

With Mechanics having a fat chunk of the marks, followed by Electricity & Magnetism, Modern Physics was not represented in the paper but questions from general physics were there; optics is yet another chapter under represented in the paper.

The difficulty level of the paper and the topic wise segregation are depicted below:

Chemistry

In general the questions in this section required in depth learning of concepts and extremely challenging to the students. Yet, a general feeling regarding inorganic chemistry is that they were easier to solve compared to the other two sections of chemistry.

Brilliance of the students is put to test in answering the Physical chemistry part too as it involved not just solving but some small hiccups which an averagely prepared student may not be able to get through. ‘More than one correct option correct’ type of questions required a good investment in time also. But Organic part was the most challenging of the three.

The difficulty level of the paper and the topic wise segregation are depicted below:

Mathematics

The Mathematics part of the paper was of medium difficulty level. Few questions required lengthy solving, including the ones from Trigonometry; rarely direct questions from Trigonometry pose difficulties. Integral calculus had a fair representation in the paper and two questions from the area were unusually lengthy and conceptually demanding. Coordinate geometry was under represented against all expectations with Algebra having the usual share in the JEE Advanced 2018 paper.

The difficulty level of the paper and the topic wise segregation are depicted below:

Paper 2

Paper 2 of JEE Advanced 2018, was considered more difficult than paper 1. Mathematics was harder and Chemistry was ranked the hardest paper compared to all previous years; but Physics part was quite okay in huge contrast to 2017.

The question pattern: there were 18 x 3 = 54 questions altogether and the total marks were 60 x 3 = 180. The question pattern was similar to that of Paper 1, except that the paragraph based questions were replaced with Matching List type.

The question pattern of the JEE Advanced 2018 – Paper 2 is as shown below:

Type of question	No. Of questions	Negative marking	Total marks
One or more than one Correct options type*	6	-2	6 x 4 = 24
Numerical answer type	8	0	8 x 3 = 24
Matching List (single correct) type	4	-1	4 x 3 = 12

* One or more correct option(s) type questions awarded partial marks, detailed instructions to this effect were provided to the students.

Physics

Paper 2 was difficult when compared to paper 1, as it involved more mathematical calculations like integration and differentiation; particularly questions from MMCQs and Matching list, could not be solved with subject knowledge alone.

Again Optics and properties of matter were meagerly represented, and that one question from Optics was difficult to solve! Most of the problems required an open mind and a creative thought process to solve it in a fixed time frame.

The difficulty level of the paper and the topic wise segregation are depicted below:

Chemistry

Compared to paper 1, paper 2 was not too different both in difficulty level of questions; but in Organic chemistry there were threads of concept areas beyond syllabus. The level of organic chemistry required to solve the paper is way beyond the average level of the JEE aspirants. Questions involved more advanced topic references and were difficult from the regular student point of view.

The inorganic chemistry part was little soothing to the students as it was moderately easy to answer and hence a time saver.

The difficulty level of the paper and the topic wise segregation are depicted below:

Mathematics

The Mathematics portion in paper 2 was tougher than in paper 1. Questions from calculus were tough, lengthy and time consuming. Questions of the matching list type used to be more student friendly, but this year two of the questions required in depth conceptual understanding and logical conclusions to get to the solution.

Calculus contributed to 30% of the paper with differential calculus reversing roles with integral calculus when compared to paper 1. Coordinate geometry was again under represented, but students were happy about the absence of Trigonometry in Paper 2. Overall, students would have felt depressed after paper 2 Mathematics.

The difficulty level of the paper and the topic wise segregation are depicted below: