NEET UG · Physics · Class 12

Ray Optics and Optical Instruments: NEET previous year questions

26 questions in ten years of NEET, asked in 10 of 10 years. Here is what this chapter tests and how.

Asked in 10 years: 26; 10 of 10 papers
10-year average: 2.5; a paper · 2.3 since 2024 -0.3
Typical range: 2–3; questions a paper; fewest 1, most 4
Weighted estimate: 2.6; model, recent papers count more · about 10 marks

Typical range (fact)
10-year average (fact)
Weighted estimate (model)

Typical range: questions per paper in the middle eight of the ten papers, leaving out the single highest and lowest year (about the 10th to 90th percentile), each paper scaled to 180 questions. The ten-year average and the range are historical fact. The weighted estimate is a model: each paper's share, with recent papers counting more (half-life three years), and dropped syllabus removed. It is a guide to effort, not a forecast.

What to do

How to spend time on Ray Optics and Optical Instruments

Priority

Must do

Among the chapters that held the first half of all NEET questions in ten years. How bands are set

Past questions: 26in 10 of 10 papers
Study plan gives it: 20 hover 12 months; 15 h over 6

Study this chapter →Practise →

Ideas asked most often

Astronomical Telescope3×
Critical Angle and TIR3×
Combination of Lenses Separated by a Distance2×
Combination of Thin Lenses2×
Snell's Law Calculation2×

217 of the 239 ideas in Lumi’s map of this chapter have not been asked or touched in ten years. New questions often come from ideas like these, so learn the whole chapter, not just the list above.

Questions per year

Kind of question

SHARE OF 10 YEARS

Calculation54%
Concept19%
Figure-based15%
Recall8%
Application4%

Most common asks: numerical (14); design choice for astronomical telescope objective (1); small-angle prism emergence condition (1).

Profile

This chapter in numbers

Where it ranks, how steady it is, and what it costs to study.

Rank, all NEET chapters: #27; of 80 by weighted estimate
Rank in Physics: #2; of 27 chapters
Share of the paper: 1.4%; ten-year average
Busiest year: 2021; 4 questions
Year to year: Steady; varies by about 0.7 questions
Long-run direction: +0.00; questions per paper, per year
Easy questions: 23%; 98% of ideas rated hard
With a figure: 23%; graph, diagram or structure
Study time: 20 h; 15 h on a 6-month plan
Marks per study hour: 0.51; #64 of 80 chapters
Foundation for others: 53%; of its ideas are used in other chapters

Difficulty, year by year

Each question rated easy, medium or hard against NCERT.

20172
20183
20193
20201
20214
20223
20233
20242
20252
20263

Easy
Medium
Hard

What it asks you to do

SHARE OF QUESTIONS

Multi-step31%
Calculation27%
Concept19%
Application15%
Recall8%

Coverage

How much of the chapter NEET has used

We split the chapter into 239 ideas. In ten years NEET built a question around 12 of them. Most of the chapter has never been asked, which is why learning it whole beats memorising past questions.

Asked as the main idea: 12
Touched on in a question: 10
Never asked: 217

Topics

What repeats, topic by topic

Questions per topic in each year's paper. Topics that come every year are worth learning first.

Thin Lens Formula · Every year9
121212
Snell's Law · Every year8
1112111
Prisms, Dispersion and Optical Instruments · Every year8
2111111
Spherical Mirrors · Gone quiet1
1

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Topic	2017	’18	2019	’20	2021	’22	2023	’24	2025	’26	Total
Thin Lens FormulaEvery year	·	·	1	·	2	1	2	·	1	2	9
Snell's LawEvery year	·	1	1	·	1	2	1	1	·	1	8
Prisms, Dispersion and Optical InstrumentsEvery year	2	1	1	1	1	·	·	1	1	·	8
Spherical MirrorsGone quiet	·	1	·	·	·	·	·	·	·	·	1

02+questions in that year’s paper

Drill down

Topic, idea, question

Open a topic to see every idea NEET tested inside it, then open an idea to read the questions. Each row shows its ten papers.

topicAskedShareYears’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Open9 · 35%35%6/10222
7 ideas inside
- Repeated2 · 22%22%2/10
- Repeated2 · 22%22%2/10
- 1 · 11%11%1/10
- 1 · 11%11%1/10
- 1 · 11%11%1/10
- 1 · 11%11%1/10
- 1 · 11%11%1/10
Open8 · 31%31%7/102
Open8 · 31%31%7/102
Open1 · 4%4%1/10

Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.

Ideas

The exact ideas NEET has asked

Inside the topics, 18 different ideas were tested. These came more than once, or are new since 2024.

Astronomical Telescope3×
design choice for astronomical telescope objective
Critical Angle and TIR3×
numerical
Combination of Lenses Separated by a Distance2×
numerical
Combination of Thin Lenses2×
equivalent focal length of lenses in contact
Snell's Law Calculation2×
numerical
Thin Prisms and Dispersion2×
small-angle prism emergence condition
Index Correction on the Optical BenchNew1×
identify measurement needing index correction
Apparent Depth for Non-Air ObserverNew1×
numerical
Compound MicroscopeNew1×
numerical
Grazing Emergence ConditionNew1×
numerical

Idea	Times	Usually asked as
Astronomical Telescopedesign choice for astronomical telescope objective	3	One-line MCQ
Critical Angle and TIRnumerical	3	Numerical
Combination of Lenses Separated by a Distancenumerical	2	Figure-based
Combination of Thin Lensesequivalent focal length of lenses in contact	2	One-line MCQ
Snell's Law Calculationnumerical	2	Figure-based
Thin Prisms and Dispersionsmall-angle prism emergence condition	2	Numerical
Index Correction on the Optical Benchidentify measurement needing index correction	1	One-line MCQNew
Apparent Depth for Non-Air Observernumerical	1	NumericalNew
Compound Microscopenumerical	1	NumericalNew
Grazing Emergence Conditionnumerical	1	Figure-basedNew

Every question

Ray Optics and Optical Instruments questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper.

NEET 20263 questions

Q20Which of the following measurements require 'index correction' ?One-line MCQ
Q22Consider three media P, Q and R with refractive indices 1, 1.25, and 1.5, respectively. The medium Q having a thickness of 5 cm is placed…Numerical · figure
Q29The lens combination as shown in the figure, consists of two lenses, $L_1$ and $L_2$ , of the focal lengths +10 cm and $-10$ cm,…Figure-based · figure

NEET 20252 questions

Q2A microscope has an objective of focal length 2 cm, eyepiece of focal length 4 cm and the tube length of 40 cm. If the distance of…Numerical
Q13In a certain camera, a combination of four similar thin convex lenses are arranged axially in contact. Then the power of the combination…One-line MCQ

NEET 20242 questions

Q14A light ray enters through a right angled prism at point $P$ with the angle of incidence 30° as shown in figure. It travels through the…Figure-based · figure
Q40A small telescope has an objective of focal length 140 cm and an eye piece of focal length 5.0 cm. The magnifying power of telescope for…Numerical

NEET 20233 questions

Q8Light travels a distance $x$ in time $t_1$ in air and $10x$ in time $t_2$ in another denser medium. What is the critical angle for this…Numerical
Q45In the figure shown here, what is the equivalent focal length of the combination of lenses (Assume that all layers are thin)?Figure-based · figure
Q46Two thin lenses are of same focal lengths ( $f$ ), but one is convex and the other one is concave. When they are placed in contact with each…One-line MCQ

NEET 20223 questions

Q22A light ray falls on a glass surface of refractive index $\sqrt{3}$ , at an angle 60°. The angle between the refracted and reflected rays…Numerical
Q29A biconvex lens has radii of curvature, 20 cm each. If the refractive index of the material of the lens is 1.5, the power of the lens is :Numerical
Q47Two transparent media A and B are separated by a plane boundary. The speed of light in those media are $1.5\times10^{8}$ m/s and…Numerical

NEET 20214 questions

Q15A lens of large focal length and large aperture is best suited as an objective of an astronomical telescope since :One-line MCQ
Q17A convex lens 'A' of focal length 20 cm and a concave lens 'B' of focal length 5 cm are kept along the same axis with a distance 'd'…Numerical
Q30Find the value of the angle of emergence from the prism. Refractive index of the glass is $\sqrt{3}$ .Figure-based · figure
Q50A point object is placed at a distance of 60 cm from a convex lens of focal length 30 cm. If a plane mirror were put perpendicular to the…One-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20201 question

Q140A ray is incident at an angle of incidence $i$ on one surface of a small angle prism (with angle of prism A) and emerges normally from the…Numerical

NEET 20193 questions

Q11Two similar thin equi-convex lenses, of focal length f each, are kept coaxially in contact with each other such that the focal length of…Numerical
Q15Pick the wrong answer in the context with rainbow.One-line MCQ
Q28In total internal reflection when the angle of incidence is equal to the critical angle for the pair of media in contact, what will be…One-line MCQ

NEET 20183 questions

Q10An astronomical refracting telescope will have large angular magnification and high angular resolution, when it has an objective lens ofOne-line MCQ
Q19The refractive index of the material of a prism is $\sqrt{2}$ and the angle of the prism is 30°. One of the two refracting surfaces of the…Numerical
Q20An object is placed at a distance of 40 cm from a concave mirror of focal length 15 cm. If the object is displaced through a distance of…Numerical

NEET 20172 questions

Q42A beam of light from a source L is incident normally on a plane mirror fixed at a certain distance $x$ from the source. The beam is…One-line MCQ
Q44A thin prism having refracting angle 10° is made of glass of refractive index 1.42. This prism is combined with another thin prism of…Numerical

Questions from the official NEET UG papers published by NTA (CBSE before 2019). Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.