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Friday, 9 October

JEE Main Physics · Class 12

Electromagnetic Waves: JEE Main previous year questions

Electromagnetic Waves had 36 questions in the 42 JEE Main shifts Lumi analysed, about 0.7 a shift, asked in 32 of 42 shifts. It ranks 19 of 29 Physics chapters by questions; 6% of its questions were hard.

Questions
36
in 32 of 42 shifts
A shift, on average
0.7
of 25 Physics questions
Since 2024
+0.1
0.7 a shift in 2017–23, 0.8 in 2024–26
Numerical answer
3
8% of its questions

Year by year

How often it came

Questions in the analysed shifts of each year. Years differ in how many shifts Lumi analysed, so read the bars with the shift count.

Questions each year
05100’173’204’213’225’2310’243’258’26

2017: 1 shifts · 2020: 4 shifts · 2021: 4 shifts · 2022: 4 shifts · 2023: 4 shifts · 2024: 8 shifts · 2025: 8 shifts · 2026: 9 shifts

Difficulty by year
  • 2017
  • 20203
  • 20214
  • 20223
  • 20235
  • 202410
  • 20253
  • 20268
  • Easy
  • Medium
  • Hard

Inside the chapter

Topics and the ideas that repeat

6 topics and 4 distinct ideas; 3 ideas were asked more than once. Most questions are single correct and calculation.

Topics, by questions

29 questions had no close topic in our taxonomy and are counted for the chapter only.

Ideas asked most
3 repeat

Study it on Lumi

Electromagnetic Waves: the interactive lesson

Every question

All 36 Electromagnetic Waves questions

Newest first. Each opens with its options and the official answer.

2026 8 questions

  1. 2 Apr 2026, Shift 1 · Q43An electromagnetic wave travelling in xx-direction is described by field equation Ey=300sin⁡ω(t−xc)E_y=300\sin\omega\left(t-\frac{x}{c}\right). If the…MediumSingle correct
  2. 2 Apr 2026, Shift 2 · Q37An electromagnetic wave travels in free space along the xx-direction. At a particular point in space and time,…MediumSingle correct
  3. 4 Apr 2026, Shift 2 · Q40A magnetic field vector in an electromagnetic wave is represented by B⃗=B0sin⁡(2πvt−2πxλ) j^\vec B=B_0\sin\left(2\pi vt-\frac{2\pi x}{\lambda}\right)\,\hat j.…MediumSingle correct
  4. 5 Apr 2026, Shift 1 · Q37A displacement current of 4.0 A can be set up in the space between two parallel plates of 6 μ6\ \muF capacitor. The rate of change of…EasySingle correct
  5. 5 Apr 2026, Shift 2 · Q39Given below are two statements : one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R). Assertion (A) : The…EasyAssertion–reason
  6. 6 Apr 2026, Shift 1 · Q40A point light source emits E.M. waves in free space. A detector, placed at a distance of LL m, measures the intensity as I0I_0. The…EasySingle correct
  7. 6 Apr 2026, Shift 2 · Q31For an electromagnetic wave propagating through vacuum, k⃗\vec{k}, E⃗\vec{E} and ω\omega represent propagation vector, electric field and…MediumSingle correct
  8. 8 Apr 2026, Shift 2 · Q38A monochromatic source of light operating at 15 kW emits 2.5×10222.5 \times 10^{22} photons/s. The region of an electromagnetic spectrum to…MediumSingle correct

2025 3 questions

  1. 3 Apr 2025, Shift 1 · Q40The radiation pressure exerted by a 450 W light source on a perfectly reflecting surface placed at 2m away from it, isMediumSingle correct
  2. 4 Apr 2025, Shift 2 · Q47If an optical medium possesses a relative permeability of 10π\frac{10}{\pi} and relative permittivity of 10.0885\frac{1}{0.0885}, then the…MediumNumerical value
  3. 7 Apr 2025, Shift 2 · Q39The unit of 2Iϵ0c\sqrt{\frac{2I}{\epsilon_0 c}} is : (II = intensity of an electromagnetic wave, cc : speed of light)MediumSingle correct

2024 10 questions

  1. 6 Apr 2024, Shift 2 · Q45In the given electromagnetic wave Ey=600sin⁡(ωt−kx) Vm−1E_y=600\sin(\omega t-kx)\ \mathrm{Vm^{-1}}, intensity of the associated light beam is (in…MediumSingle correct
  2. 8 Apr 2024, Shift 1 · Q42Average force exerted on a non-reflecting surface at normal incidence is 2.4×10−42.4\times10^{-4} N. If 360 W/cm2^2 is the light energy flux…MediumSingle correct
  3. 9 Apr 2024, Shift 1 · Q42Given below are two statements : Statement (I) : When currents vary with time, Newton's third law is valid only if momentum carried by the…HardTwo statements
  4. 9 Apr 2024, Shift 1 · Q44A plane EM wave is propagating along xx direction. It has a wavelength of 44 mm. If electric field is in yy direction with the maximum…MediumSingle correct
  5. 9 Apr 2024, Shift 2 · Q50The magnetic field in a plane electromagnetic wave is By=(3.5×10−7)sin⁡(1.5×103x+0.5×1011t)TB_y=(3.5\times10^{-7})\sin(1.5\times10^3x+0.5\times10^{11}t)\mathrm{T}. The…MediumSingle correct
  6. 29 Jan 2024, Shift 1 · Q44Match List I with List II LIST I A. ∮B⃗⋅dl⃗=μoic+μoεodϕEdt\oint\vec{B}\cdot d\vec{l}=\mu_o i_c+\mu_o\varepsilon_o\frac{d\phi_E}{dt} B.…EasyMatch the list
  7. 30 Jan 2024, Shift 2 · Q42Match List I with List II List I | List II A. Gauss's law of magnetostatics | I.…EasyMatch the list
  8. 30 Jan 2024, Shift 2 · Q44If the total energy transferred to a surface in time t is 6.48×105 J6.48\times 10^5\,J, then the magnitude of the total momentum delivered to this…EasySingle correct
  9. 31 Jan 2024, Shift 1 · Q44In a plane EM wave, the electric field oscillates sinusoidally at a frequency of 5×10105\times10^{10} Hz and an amplitude of 50 Vm−1^{-1}. The…EasySingle correct
  10. 31 Jan 2024, Shift 2 · Q44Given below are two statements: Statement I: Electromagnetic waves carry energy as they travel through space and this energy is equally…EasyTwo statements

2023 5 questions

  1. 6 Apr 2023, Shift 1 · Q37For the plane electromagnetic wave given by E=E0sin⁡(ωt−kx)E=E_0\sin(\omega t-kx) and B=B0sin⁡(ωt−kx)B=B_0\sin(\omega t-kx), the ratio of average electric energy…EasySingle correct
  2. 8 Apr 2023, Shift 2 · Q42The power radiated from a linear antenna of length ll is proportional to (Given, λ\lambda = Wavelength of wave):HardSingle correct
  3. 8 Apr 2023, Shift 2 · Q47The waves emitted when a metal target is bombarded with high energy electrons areEasySingle correct
  4. 11 Apr 2023, Shift 1 · Q37The electric field in an electromagnetic wave is given as E⃗=20sin⁡ω(t−xc)j^ NC−1\vec{E} = 20\sin\omega\left(t - \frac{x}{c}\right)\hat{j}\ \mathrm{NC^{-1}}…MediumSingle correct
  5. 13 Apr 2023, Shift 2 · Q45In an electromagnetic wave, at an instant and at a particular position, the electric field is along the negative z-axis and magnetic field…EasySingle correct

2022 3 questions

  1. 28 Jul 2022, Shift 1 · Q45As shown in the figure, after passing through the medium 1. The speed of light v2v_2 in medium 2 will be : (Given…EasyDiagram basedHas a figure
  2. 24 Jun 2022, Shift 1 · Q43A plane electromagnetic wave travels in a medium of relative permeability 1.61 and relative permittivity 6.44. If magnitude of magnetic…MediumSingle correct
  3. 29 Jun 2022, Shift 1 · Q52The intensity of the light from a bulb incident on a surface is 0.22 W/m2\mathrm{W/m^2}. The amplitude of the magnetic field in this…MediumNumerical value

2021 4 questions

  1. 3 Aug 2021, Shift 2 · Q19Given below are two statements : one is labeled as Assertion A and the other is labeled as Reason R. Assertion A : Communication…EasyAssertion–reason
  2. 3 Aug 2021, Shift 2 · Q21‾×10−10\underline{\hspace{2em}}\times10^{-10} J (joule) energy is contained in a 120 m length of a laser beam operating at 4mW.MediumNumerical value
  3. 25 Jul 2021, Shift 1 · Q10A linearly polarized electromagnetic wave in vacuum is E=3.1cos⁡[(1.8)z−(5.4×106)t]i^E=3.1\cos\left[(1.8)z-\left(5.4\times10^6\right)t\right]\hat{i} N/C is incident…MediumSingle correct
  4. 18 Mar 2021, Shift 1 · Q19A plane electromagnetic wave of frequency 100 MHz is travelling in vacuum along the xx-direction. At a particular point in space and…MediumSingle correct

2020 3 questions

  1. 9 Jan 2020, Shift 2 · Q16A plane electromagnetic wave is propagating along the direction i^+j^2\frac{\hat{i}+\hat{j}}{\sqrt{2}}, with its polarization along the…MediumSingle correct
  2. 2 Sep 2020, Shift 1 · Q15A plane electromagnetic wave, has frequency of 2.0×10102.0\times10^{10} Hz and its energy density is 1.02×10−8 J/m31.02\times10^{-8}\ \mathrm{J/m^{3}} in…MediumSingle correct
  3. 6 Sep 2020, Shift 2 · Q16For a plane electromagnetic wave, the magnetic field at a point xx and time t is…MediumSingle correct

Pattern: Asked most years.