Date:05/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/05/stories/2007040521920500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Campus Jottings

IIT entrance test to be in new format

THE JOINT Entrance Examination for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT JEE 2007) is just a few days away. Thousands of aspirants are ready to take the big test on April 8. But are they prepared enough for the new pattern to be introduced this year?

For the Physics paper, the experts predict that the marks-wise break-up of topics will be as follows: Measurements - 5 per cent; Mechanics - 30 per cent; Waves and Sound - 7 per cent; Heat and Thermodynamics - 8 per cent; Electricity and Magnetism - 30 per cent; Optics - 10 per cent and Modern Physics - 10 per cent.

Based on the analysis of the past years' papers, experts from Career Launcher have indicated that the following sub-topics would have a higher probability of figuring in the paper: Sub-topic "Vernier Calipers" in the topic "Measurements;" Relative Velocity and Projectiles in Kinematics; Surface Tension and Viscosity in Properties of Matter; Resonance Column and Organ Pipes in Waves; Heat Transfer and Newton's Law of Cooling in Thermal Physics; Field and Capacitors in Electrostatics; Kirchoff's Laws in Electric Current; AC Circuit in EMI, AC; Young's Double Slit Experiment in Optics and Photoelectric Effect, Radioactive Decay in Modern Physics. Here is what experts advise for the Physics paper in particular: "Don't try to learn new things at this stage. Instead try to consolidate whatever you already know. In the paper a score of about 40 per cent or 45 per cent will be good enough." For the Chemistry paper, the expected marks-wise break-up will be: General Chemistry-8 per cent; Physical Chemistry-30 per cent; Organic Chemistry-35 per cent; and Inorganic Chemistry-27 per cent. Over the years in Chemistry, the experts say the questions have been repeatedly asked on Electrochemistry, Thermodynamics, Ionic Equilibrium, States of Matter, Chemical Bonding and Organic Chemistry.

Mathematics paper has often been more difficult than the other two subjects. Students can expect the following break-up for this paper: Algebra - 30 per cent; Trigonometry - 10 per cent; two-dimension geometry - 15 per cent; Three-dimensional geometry - 5 per cent; Differential Calculus - 19 per cent; Integral Calculus - 18 per cent; and Vectors - 3 per cent.

Tough days

For II year Pre-University students in the State, the IIT JEE examinations come right in the midst of their ongoing annual examinations. Many students find it tough to concentrate. The II examination is scheduled for April 5, while the IIT test is on April 8. Two days later is the Biology-2 paper of the II PU. In the words of P. Venugopala Rao, a Mathematics professor, the PU examination schedule was fixed without taking the IIT-JEE into account.

And this happened for the second consecutive year, he said. Students, Prof. Rao explained, required at least a week to prepare for the entrance examination, which is based on the text in the I and II year PUC. Many States, including Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, complete their pre-university examinations a week before the IIT test. Assam had finished the examination on March 16. The students from CBSE and ICSE stream completed their 12th examination by March 22.

RASHEED KAPPAN