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Physics - Ray Optics

Practise 71 JEE Advanced previous year questions on Ray Optics, 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.

Ray Optics has been asked in 21 of the 27 years of JEE Advanced papers analysed (2000–2026), with 71 questions in all. 20% of them were easy, 48% moderate and 32% tough. Most of its questions came from 2010, with 6 questions that year. In the last three years (2024–2026) it had 8 questions across 6 papers, about 1.3 per paper.

The chapter's 8 topics are not weighted equally: Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface (21 questions, 30%), Refraction of light from plane surface (20 questions, 28%), and Prism and Dispersion of Light (12 questions, 17%) have been asked the most. Over the last five years the most frequent topics have been Prism and Dispersion of Light (5), Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface (4), and Refraction of light from plane surface (3). Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface has produced the most tough questions (7).

  1. 1A double convex lens made of glass of refractive index and radii of curvature of the curved surfaces cm each is immersed in a liquid of refr2026 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  2. 2A beam of polychromatic light passes through a thin prism of prism angle . The refractive index of the material of the prism varies with wav2026 (Paper 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  3. 3Consider two isosceles prisms 1 and 2 with prism angles and and refractive indices and , respectively, as shown in the figure. The faces and2026 (Paper 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  4. 4A solid glass sphere of refractive index and radius contains a spherical air cavity of radius , as shown in the figure. A very thin glass la2025 (Paper 1)Critical angle and total internal reflection
  5. 5Two identical concave mirrors each of focal length are facing each other as shown in the schematic diagram. The focal length is much larger 2025 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  6. 6A glass beaker has a solid, plano-convex base of refractive index 1.60, as shown in the figure. The radius of curvature of the convex surfac2024 (Paper 1)Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror
  7. 7A light ray is incident on the surface of a sphere of refractive index at an angle of incidence . The ray partially refracts into the sphere2024 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  8. 8Two equilateral-triangular prisms and are kept with their sides parallel to each other, in vacuum, as shown in the figure. A light ray enter2024 (Paper 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  9. 9A plane polarized blue light ray is incident on a prism such that there is no reflection from the surface of the prism. The angle of deviati2023 (Paper 1)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  10. 10An optical arrangement consists of two concave mirrors M 1 and M 2 , and a convex lens L with a common principal axis, as shown in the figur2023 (Paper 1)Combination of Lens and Mirrors
  11. 11A monochromatic light wave is incident normally on a glass slab of thickness d , as shown in the figure. The refractive index of the slab in2023 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  12. 12A rod of length 2 cm makes an angle 2 3 rad with the principal axis of a thin convex lens. The lens has a focal length of 10 cm and is place2022 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  13. 13Three plane mirrors form an equilateral triangle with each side of length L . There is a small hole at a distance l 0 from one of the corner2022 (Paper 1)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  14. 14List I contains four combinations of two lenses ( 1 and 2 ) whose focal lengths (in cm ) are indicated in the figures. In all cases, the obj2022 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  15. 15Consider a configuration of n identical units, each consisting of three layers. The first layer is a column of air of height h = 1 3 cm , an2022 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  16. 16An object and a concave mirror of focal length f = 10 cm both move along the principal axis of the mirror with constant speeds. The object m2022 (Paper 2)Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror
  17. 17An extended object is placed at point O , 10 cm in front of a convex lens L 1 and a concave lens L 2 is placed 10 cm behind it, as shown in 2021 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  18. 18A wide slab consisting of two media of refractive indices n 1 and n 2 is placed in air as shown in the figure. A ray of light is incident fr2021 (Paper 1)Refraction of light from plane surface
  19. 19For a prism of prism angle = 60 , the refractive indices of the left half and the right half are, respectively, n 1 and n 2 , n 2 n 1 as sho2021 (Paper 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  20. 20A large square container with thin transparent vertical walls and filled with water refractive index 4 3 is kept on a horizontal table. A st2020 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  21. 21A beaker of radius r is filled with water refractive index 4 3 up to a height H as shown in the figure on the left. The beaker is kept on a 2020 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  22. 22A thin convex lens is made of two materials with refractive indices n 1 and n 2 , as shown in figure. The radius of curvature of the left an2019 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  23. 23A planar structure of length L and width W is made of two different optical media of refractive indices n 1 = 1.5 and n 2 = 1.44 as shown in2019 (Paper 1)Refraction of light from plane surface
  24. 24Three glass cylinders of equal height H = 30 c m and same refractive index n = 1.5 are placed on a horizontal surface shown in figure. Cylin2019 (Paper 2)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  25. 25A monochromatic light is incident from air on a refracting surface of a prism of angle 75 o and refractive index n 0 = 3 . The other refract2019 (Paper 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  26. 26An optical bench has 1.5 m long scale having four equal divisions in each c m . While measuring the focal length of a convex lens, the lens 2019 (Paper 2)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  27. 27Sunlight of intensity 1.3 k W m - 2 is incident normally on a thin convex lens of focal length 20 c m . Ignore the energy loss of light due 2018 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  28. 28A wire is bent in the shape of a right angled triangle and is placed in front of a concave mirror of focal length f , as shown in the figure2018 (Paper 2)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  29. 29For an isosceles prism of angle A and refractive index it is found that, the angle of minimum deviation is m = A . Which of the following op2017 (Paper 1)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  30. 30A monochromatic light is travelling in a medium of refractive index n = 1.6 . It enters a stack of glass layers from the bottom side at an a2017 (Paper 1)Refraction of light from plane surface
  31. 31A parallel beam of light is incident from air at an angle on the side PQ of a right angled triangular prism of refractive index n = 2 . Ligh2016 (Paper 1)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  32. 32A transparent slab of thickness d has a refractive index n (z) that increases with z. Here z is the vertical distance inside the slab, measu2016 (Paper 1)Refraction of light from plane surface
  33. 33A plano-convex lens is made of a material of refractive index n. When a small object is placed 30 cm away in front of the curved surface of 2016 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  34. 34A small object is placed 50 cm to the left of thin convex lens of focal length 30 cm. A convex spherical mirror of radius of curvature 100 c2016 (Paper 2)Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror
  35. 35Consider a concave mirror and a convex lens (refractive index = 1 . 5 ) of focal length 10 cm each, separated by a distance of 50 cm in air 2015 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  36. 36Two identical glass rods S 1 and S 2 (refractive index = 1.5) have one convex end of radius of curvature 10 cm. They are placed with the cur2015 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  37. 37A monochromatic beam of light is incident at 60 o on one face of an equilateral prism of refractive index n and emerges from the opposite fa2015 (Paper 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  38. 38Paragraph: Light guidance in an optical fiber can be understood by considering a structure comprising of thin solid glass cylinder of refrac2015 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  39. 39Paragraph: Light guidance in an optical fiber can be understood by considering a structure comprising of thin solid glass cylinder of refrac2015 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  40. 40A transparent thin film of uniform thickness and refractive index n 1 = 1.4 is coated on the convex spherical surface of radius R at one end2014 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  41. 41A point source S is placed at the bottom of a transparent block of height 10 mm and refractive index 2.72. It is immersed in a lower refract2014 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  42. 42Four combinations of two thin lenses are given in List I. The radius of curvature of all curved surfaces is r and the refractive index of al2014 (Paper 2)Combination of Lens and Mirrors
  43. 43A ray of light, travelling in the direction 1 2 i ^ + 3 j ^ , is incident on a plane mirror. After reflection, it travels along the directio2013 (Paper 1)Reflection of Light from Plane Mirror
  44. 44The image of an object, formed by a plano - convex lens at a distance of 8 m behind the lens, is real and is one-third the size of the objec2013 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  45. 45A right-angled prism of refractive index 1 is placed in a rectangular block of refractive index 2 , which is surrounded by a medium of refra2013 (Paper 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  46. 46A bi-convex lens is formed with two thin plano-convex lenses as shown in the figure. Refractive index of the first lens is and that of the s2012 (Paper 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  47. 47Most materials have the refractive index, . So, when a light ray from air enters a naturally occurring material, then by Snell's law, , it i2012 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  48. 48Most materials have the refractive index, . So, when a light ray from air enters a naturally occurring material, then by Snell's law, , it i2012 (Paper 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  49. 49A light ray travelling in glass medium is incident on glass-air interface at an angle of incidence . The reflected and transmitted intensiti2011 (Paper 2)Critical angle and total internal reflection
  50. 50Water (with refractive index ) in a tank is deep. Oil of refractive index lies on water making a convex surface of radius of curvature as sh2011 (Paper 2)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface

Frequently Asked Questions

1.How many questions are available for Ray Optics?

This chapter includes 71 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 Ray Optics chapter. Questions from other exams like JEE Main or NTA Abhyas (JEE Main) are organised separately under their respective exam sections.

3.Is Ray Optics an important chapter for JEE Advanced Physics?

Ray Optics has appeared in 21 of the 21 years of JEE Advanced papers covered here, with 71 questions across 37 papers - about 2 per paper it appears in.

4.What is the difficulty level of Ray Optics questions in JEE Advanced?

Of the 71 questions analysed for this chapter, 20% are easy, 48% moderate and 32% tough. 2010 had the most, with 6 questions.

5.Which topics in Ray Optics should I focus on?

These topics have carried the most weightage in Ray Optics:

  • Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface - 21 questions (30%)
  • Refraction of light from plane surface - 20 questions (28%)
  • Prism and Dispersion of Light - 12 questions (17%)
  • Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface has produced the most tough questions (7).
6.Is Ray Optics's weightage in JEE Advanced going up or down?

Across all 37 papers analysed, Ray Optics has averaged about 1.9 questions per paper. In the last three years (2024–2026), that average has fallen, at about 1.3 questions per paper. Use the year-wise numbers on this page for the exact trend before you decide how much time to give it.