NEET UG · Biology · Mineral Nutrition

Mineral Nutrition: NEET previous year questions

This topic’s chapter, Mineral Nutrition, is not in the NEET UG 2026 syllabus. It had 6 questions from 2017 to 2023; they are kept here for reference.

Asked in 10 years: 6; about 0.6 per paper
Years asked: 4/10; last asked 2023
Syllabus: Dropped; not in NEET UG 2026
Last asked: 2023; 3 papers ago

Key findings

01
Asked in 4 of 10 papers, 6 questions in all: #142 of 204 topics by ten-year total. It comes back every 1.7 years on average. Last asked in 2023.
02
67% of its questions since 2018 tested an idea never asked before; 1 repeated an idea from the year before.
03
The most repeated idea is Manganese in Photolysis of Water, asked 3 times (2020, 2022, 2023), usually as “match list on elements and functions”.
04
NEET has asked 4 of the 84 ideas in this topic; 75 have never been asked, directly or indirectly.
05
Mostly asked as one-line MCQ (50%); 50% easy, 0% hard, and down from 0.8 to 0.0 questions a paper since 2024.

Questions per year

Up to 2023: 0.8; per paper
Since 2024: 0.0; -0.8
Usual gap: 1.7 yrs; between papers asking it
Swing: ±0.8; questions, year to year

How it is asked

Difficulty, format and skill

Across all 6 questions on Mineral Nutrition since 2017.

Difficulty

QUESTIONS

Easy3 · 50%
Medium3 · 50%
Hard0 · 0%

Format

One-line MCQ · 3 Q50%
Match the lists · 3 Q50%

Skill tested

Recall · 6 Q100%

Repeats

New idea, or one asked before?

Each column is a paper. Blue questions tested an idea NEET had not asked before; navy ones went back to an idea from an earlier paper. 2017 is the first paper, so everything in it counts as new.

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Idea asked for the first time
Idea asked in an earlier paper

Coverage of the topic

NEET has asked 4 of the 84 ideas in this topic. 75 have never been asked yet.

Asked directly4 · 5%
Touched inside another question5 · 6%
Never asked75 · 89%

Ideas come from Lumi’s syllabus map of NCERT. A never-asked idea is not a safe skip: most new questions come from exactly these.

Drill down

Idea, year, question

Every idea NEET tested in this topic, with its ten papers. Open one to read the questions.

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

Repeated3 · 50%50%3/10
- 2023 · Q103
  Which micronutrient is required for splitting of water molecule during photosynthesis?
  easyOne-line MCQAsked the year before
- 2022 · Q127
  Match List - I with List - II. List - I | List - II (a) Manganese | (i) Activates the enzyme catalase (b) Magnesium | (ii) Required for…
  mediumMatch the lists
- 2020 · Q28
  Match the following concerning essential elements and their functions in plants : (a) Iron | (i) Photolysis of water (b) Zinc | (ii)…
  mediumMatch the listsNew idea
1 · 17%17%1/10
1 · 17%17%1/10
1 · 17%17%1/10

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

Ideas

Every idea inside this topic

4 different ideas were tested; 1 came more than once. Manganese in Photolysis of Water is the foundation for 3 other ideas in the syllabus.

Manganese in Photolysis of Water3×
match list on elements and functions
Match the lists · 4% next · foundation for 3
Zinc in Auxin Synthesis1×
match list on mineral roles
Match the lists · 4% next · foundation for 1
Iron Absorption State1×
ionic form of nutrient absorbed
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Potassium in Turgidity and Stomata1×
identify element by role
One-line MCQ · 4% next

Idea	Times	Format	Chance next	Foundation for
Manganese in Photolysis of Watermatch list on elements and functions	3	Match the listsRecall	4%	3 ideas
Zinc in Auxin Synthesismatch list on mineral roles	1	Match the listsRecall	4%	1 ideas
Iron Absorption Stateionic form of nutrient absorbed	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–
Potassium in Turgidity and Stomataidentify element by role	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–

Chance next is the historical rate at which an idea with this record came back in the following paper. It is low for every idea, which is why learning the topic beats memorising past questions. All repeated ideas

Every question

Mineral Nutrition questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper, with the idea it tested.

NEET 20232 questions

Q103
Which micronutrient is required for splitting of water molecule during photosynthesis?
Idea: Manganese in Photolysis of Water
Asked last yearEasyOne-line MCQ
Q139
Match List I with List II : List I | List II A. Iron | I. Synthesis of auxin B. Zinc | II. Component of nitrate reductase C. Boron | III.…
Idea: Zinc in Auxin Synthesis
New ideaMediumMatch the lists

NEET 20221 question

Q127
Match List - I with List - II. List - I | List - II (a) Manganese | (i) Activates the enzyme catalase (b) Magnesium | (ii) Required for…
Idea: Manganese in Photolysis of Water
MediumMatch the lists

NEET 20201 question

Q28
Match the following concerning essential elements and their functions in plants : (a) Iron | (i) Photolysis of water (b) Zinc | (ii)…
Idea: Manganese in Photolysis of Water
New ideaMediumMatch the lists

NEET 20182 questions

Q95
Which of the following elements is responsible for maintaining turgor in cells ?
Idea: Potassium in Turgidity and Stomata
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q97
In which of the following forms is iron absorbed by plants ?
Idea: Iron Absorption State
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

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