Physics is the most interesting and moderately easy subject to score marks in IIT-JEE.
Understanding the theory behind is crucial to solving problems.
Best books to understand the theory
- Concepts of Physics (part 1 and part2), HC Verma Book Info
- Fundamentals of Physics, Halliday & Resnick Book Info
- Physics books from DB Singh, Arihant Publications.
Best books to master problem solving
- Concepts of Physics (best suited for JEE Mains)
- Problems in General Physics, Igor Irodov (best suited for JEE Advanced)
- Past years IIT-JEE problems books.
How to solve a physics problem
Understanding the basics of physics is needed to solve a problem. What is that?
There’s a difference between understanding something and remembering something. Many times students complain that they understood the topic, but when attempting to solve problems they struggles.
Understanding is when you can model the topic in your brain in terms of the underlying mathematical foundation behind it. Relating it to real-life situations and connecting the dots.
Test understanding of a topic
To Test if you have understood a topic, you must solve problems. I will categorize understanding into three stages
- Remember (50 % understanding, means you are not sure if you have understood or not):
In this stage, you can solve your school textbooks problems related to this topic, but you struggle to
solve complex problems. - Moderate (80% understanding):
In this stage, you can solve problems from the book titled Concepts of Physics, but struggle to solve more complex problems. If you are in this stage, you can clear JEE Mains. - Advance (100% understanding):
At this stage, you can solve any problems. You can solve Irodov problems. If you are in this stage you can clear JEE Advanced.
Iteration of Understanding
Yes, you can improve your understanding of a topic through repetitive iterations. How does it work?
You can follow these loops:
- Read the theory behind the topic.
- Solve problems, if you are stuck, try to divide the problems into smaller sub-problems. If it still does not work, go and revisit the topic (back to step 1).
Sometimes it helps by looking at solutions to the problems by other people. Don’t remember the solution, but try to understand how does the person come up with this solution. Design-related problems by yourself in which you can apply the solutions.