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Physics - Nuclear Physics

Practise 36 JEE Advanced previous year questions on Nuclear Physics, compiled from papers spanning 2006 to 2026. Each question is pulled directly from the actual exam paper it appeared in, so you're practising in the exact style and difficulty JEE Advanced tests.

Nuclear Physics has been asked in 17 of the 27 years of JEE Advanced papers analysed (2000–2026), with 36 questions in all. 25% of them were easy, 61% moderate and 14% tough. Most of its questions came from 2013, with 4 questions that year. In the last three years (2024–2026) it had 1 question across 6 papers, about 0.2 per paper.

The chapter's 3 topics are not weighted equally: Radioactivity (17 questions, 47%), Nuclear energy (11 questions, 31%), and Nuclear reactions (8 questions, 22%) have been asked the most. Radioactivity has also led over the last five years, with 4 questions. Nuclear energy has produced the most tough questions (3).

  1. 1A nuclear reactor starts producing a radioactive nuclide from , at a constant rate of per second. Each decay of produces energy , which is u2026 (Paper 2)Radioactivity
  2. 2List- I shows different radioactive decay processes and List- II provides possible emitted particles. Match each entry in List- I with an ap2023 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  3. 3In a radioactive decay process, the activity is defined as A = - d N d t , where N ( t ) is the number of radioactive nuclei at time t . Two2023 (Paper 2)Radioactivity
  4. 4The minimum kinetic energy needed by an alpha particle to cause the nuclear reaction N 7 16 + He 2 4 H 1 1 + O 8 19 in a laboratory frame is2022 (Paper 1)Nuclear energy
  5. 5The binding energy of nucleons in a nucleus can be affected by the pairwise Coulomb repulsion. Assume that all nucleons are uniformly distri2022 (Paper 1)Nuclear energy
  6. 6In a radioactive decay chain reaction, 90 230 Th nucleus decays into Po 84 214 nucleus. The ratio of the number of to number of - particles 2022 (Paper 2)Radioactivity
  7. 7A heavy nucleus Q of half-life 20 minutes undergoes alpha-decay with probability of 60 % and beta-decay with probability of 40 % . Initially2021 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  8. 8A heavy nucleus N , at rest, undergoes fission N P + Q , where P and Q are two lighter nuclei. Let = M N - M P - M Q , where M P , M Q and M2021 (Paper 2)Nuclear reactions
  9. 9In a radioactive sample, 19 40 K nuclei either decay into stable 20 40 C a nuclei with decay constant 4.5 × 10 - 10 per year or into stable 2019 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  10. 10Suppose a R a 88 226 nucleus at rest and in ground state undergoes -decay to a R n 86 222 nucleus in its excited state. The kinetic energy o2019 (Paper 2)Nuclear energy
  11. 11Paragraph: If the measurement errors in all the independent quantities are known, then it is possible to determine the error in any dependen2018 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  12. 12In a radioactive decay chain, 90 232 Th nucleus decays to 82 212 Pb nucleus. Let N and N be the number of and - particles, respectively, emi2018 (Paper 2)Nuclear reactions
  13. 13131 I i s an isotope of Iodine that decays to an isotope of Xenon with a half-life of 8 d a y s . A small amount of a serum labelled with 132017 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  14. 14The isotope B 5 12 having a mass 12.014 u undergoes - decay to C . 6 12 C 6 12 has an excited state of the nucleus C * 6 12 at 4.041 MeV abo2016 (Paper 1)Nuclear reactions
  15. 15The electrostatic energy of Z protons uniformly distributed throughout a spherical nucleus of radius R is given by E = 3 5 Z Z - 1 e 2 4 0 R2016 (Paper 2)Nuclear energy
  16. 16An accident in a nuclear laboratory resulted in deposition of a certain amount of radioactive material of half-life 18 days inside the labor2016 (Paper 2)Radioactivity
  17. 17A nuclear power plant supplying electrical power to a village uses a radioactive material of half life T years as the fuel. The amount of fu2015 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  18. 18Match the nuclear processes given in column I with the appropriate option(s) in column II. Column I Column II A. Nuclear fusion P Absorption2015 (Paper 1)Nuclear reactions
  19. 19For a radioactive material, its activity A and rate of change of its activity R are defined as A = - d N d t and R = - d A d t , where N ( t2015 (Paper 2)Radioactivity
  20. 20A freshly prepared sample of a radioisotope of half-life 1386 s has activity disintegrations per second. Given that In 2 = 0.693, the fracti2013 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  21. 21Paragraph: The mass of a nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of number of neutrons and number of protons in the nucleus. The energy e2013 (Paper 2)Nuclear energy
  22. 22Paragraph: The mass of a nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of number of neutrons and number of protons in the nucleus. The energy e2013 (Paper 2)Nuclear energy
  23. 23Match List I of the nuclear processes with List II containing parent nucleus and one of the end products of each process and then select the2013 (Paper 2)Nuclear reactions
  24. 24The -decay process, discovered around 1900 , is basically the decay of a neutron . In the laboratory, a proton and an electron are observed 2012 (Paper 2)Nuclear energy
  25. 25The -decay process, discovered around 1900 , is basically the decay of a neutron . In the laboratory, a proton and an electron are observed 2012 (Paper 2)Nuclear energy
  26. 26The activity of a freshly prepared radioactive sample is disintegrations per second, whose mean life is . The mass of an atom of this radioi2011 (Paper 1)Radioactivity
  27. 27To determine the half-life of a radioactive element, a student plots a graph of versust. Here is the rate of radioactive decay at time . If 2010 (Paper 2)Radioactivity
  28. 28Paragraph: Scientists are working hard to develop nuclear fusion reactor. Nuclei of heavy hydrogen, known as deuteron and denoted by can be 2009 (Paper 1)Nuclear reactions
  29. 29Paragraph: Scientists are working hard to develop nuclear fusion reactor. Nuclei of heavy hydrogen, known as deuteron and denoted by can be 2009 (Paper 1)Nuclear reactions
  30. 30Paragraph: Scientists are working hard to develop nuclear fusion reactor. Nuclei of heavy hydrogen, known as deuteron and denoted by can be 2009 (Paper 1)Nuclear reactions
  31. 31Assume that the nuclear binding energy per nucleon versus mass number is as shown in the figure. Use this plot to choose the correct choice 2008 (Paper 1)Nuclear energy
  32. 32A radioactive sample having an activity of has twice the number of nuclei as another sample which has an activity of . The half lives of and2008 (Paper 2)Radioactivity
  33. 33In the options given below, let denote the rest mass energy of a nucleus and a neutron. The correct option is2007 (Paper 1)Nuclear energy
  34. 34Some laws/processes are given in Column I. Match these with the physical phenomena given in Column II and indicate your answer by darkening 2007 (Paper 1)Nuclear energy
  35. 35Half-life of a radio active substance ' ' is 4 days. The probability that a nucleus will decay in two half-lives is2006Radioactivity
  36. 36Match the following columns2006Radioactivity

Frequently Asked Questions

1.How many questions are available for Nuclear Physics?

This chapter includes 36 questions compiled from JEE Advanced papers spanning 2006 to 2026.

2.Are these questions only from JEE Advanced, or from other exams too?

These are JEE Advanced questions specifically for the Nuclear Physics chapter. Questions from other exams like JEE Main or NTA Abhyas (JEE Main) are organised separately under their respective exam sections.

3.Is Nuclear Physics an important chapter for JEE Advanced Physics?

Nuclear Physics has appeared in 17 of the 21 years of JEE Advanced papers covered here, with 36 questions across 26 papers - about one per paper it appears in.

4.What is the difficulty level of Nuclear Physics questions in JEE Advanced?

Of the 36 questions analysed for this chapter, 25% are easy, 61% moderate and 14% tough. 2013 had the most, with 4 questions.

5.Which topics in Nuclear Physics should I focus on?

These topics have carried the most weightage in Nuclear Physics:

  • Radioactivity - 17 questions (47%)
  • Nuclear energy - 11 questions (31%)
  • Nuclear reactions - 8 questions (22%)
  • Nuclear energy has produced the most tough questions (3).
6.Is Nuclear Physics's weightage in JEE Advanced going up or down?

Across all 26 papers analysed, Nuclear Physics has averaged about 1.4 questions per paper. In the last three years (2024–2026), that average has fallen, at about 0.2 questions per paper. Use the year-wise numbers on this page for the exact trend before you decide how much time to give it.