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Physics - Waves and Sound

Practise 179 JEE Main previous year questions on Waves and Sound, compiled from papers spanning 2002 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 Main tests.

Waves and Sound has been asked in 25 of the 25 years of JEE Main papers analysed (2002–2026), with 179 questions in all. 36% of them were easy, 50% moderate and 15% tough. Most of its questions came from 2022, with 22 questions that year. In the last three years (2024–2026) it had 29 questions across 49 papers, about 0.6 per paper.

The chapter's 10 topics are not weighted equally: Doppler's Effect (40 questions, 22%), Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column) (34 questions, 19%), and Travelling Waves (27 questions, 15%) have been asked the most. Over the last five years the most frequent topics have been Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column) (15), Travelling Waves (13), and Speed of Sound Waves (11). Doppler's Effect has produced the most tough questions (9).

  1. 1A transverse wave on a string is described by , where are in cm and in seconds. The least distance between the two successive crests in the 05 Apr, 2026 (M)Travelling Waves
  2. 2The equation of a plane progressive wave is given by where and are in cm and is in second. The velocity of the wave is _______ m/s.02 Apr, 2026 (M)Travelling Waves
  3. 3The speed of a longitudinal wave in a metallic bar is . If the density and Young's modulus of the bar material are increased by and , respec28 Jan, 2026 (E)Speed of Sound Waves
  4. 4Two tuning forks and are sounded together giving rise to 8 beats in 2 s. When fork is loaded with wax, the beat frequency is reduced to 4 be28 Jan, 2026 (E)Beats
  5. 5A point source is kept at the center of a spherically enclosed detector. If the volume of the detector increased by 8 times, the intensity w24 Jan, 2026 (E)Travelling Waves
  6. 6The fifth harmonic of a closed organ pipe is found to be in unison with the first harmonic of an open pipe. The ratio of lengths of closed p24 Jan, 2026 (E)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  7. 7The velocity of sound in air is doubled when the temperature is raised from to . The value of is .23 Jan, 2026 (E)Speed of Sound Waves
  8. 8Two loudspeakers ( and ) are placed with a separation of 10 m, as shown in figure. Both speakers are fed with an audio input signal of same 22 Jan, 2026 (M)Interference and Superposition of Waves
  9. 9In an open organ pipe and are and harmonic frequencies, respectively. If then length of the pipe is mm . (Take velocity of sound in air is .22 Jan, 2026 (E)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  10. 10Two strings having linear densities and, and lengths and respectively are joined. Free ends of and are tied to two rigid supports and , resp21 Jan, 2026 (M)Basics of Mechanical Waves
  11. 11Two strings with circular cross section and made of same material, are stretched to have same amount of tension. A transverse wave is then m08 Apr, 2025 (E)Speed of Sound Waves
  12. 12Two harmonic waves moving in the same direction superimpose to form a wave where is in seconds. Find the period with which they beat (close 07 Apr, 2025 (M)Beats
  13. 13The equation of a wave travelling on a string is , where x and t are distance and time in SI units. The minimum distance between two points 07 Apr, 2025 (E)Travelling Waves
  14. 14In an experiment with a closed organ pipe, it is filled with water by th of its volume. The frequency of the fundamental note will change by04 Apr, 2025 (M)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  15. 15Consider the sound wave travelling in ideal gases of , and . All the gases have the same ratio , where is the pressure and is the density. T04 Apr, 2025 (M)Speed of Sound Waves
  16. 16Displacement of a wave is expressed as . The wavelength of the wave when its velocity is is :04 Apr, 2025 (E)Travelling Waves
  17. 17In the resonance experiment, two air columns (closed at one end) of 100 cm and 120 cm long, give 15 beats per second when each one is soundi03 Apr, 2025 (E)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  18. 18A sinusoidal wave of wavelength 7.5 cm travels a distance of 1.2 cm along the x -direction in 0.3 sec. The crest is at at and maximum displa02 Apr, 2025 (E)Travelling Waves
  19. 19Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason Assertion A: A sound wave has higher spee28 Jan, 2025 (M)Speed of Sound Waves
  20. 20The equation of a transverse wave travelling along a string is , where is in mm and is in second. The velocity of the wave is :23 Jan, 2025 (E)Travelling Waves
  21. 21A closed organ and an open organ tube are filled by two different gases having same bulk modulus but different densities and , respectively.22 Jan, 2025 (M)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  22. 22A closed and an open organ pipe have same lengths. If the ratio of frequencies of their seventh overtones is then the value of is ________08 Apr, 2024 (M)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  23. 23A plane progressive wave is given by . The frequency of the wave is :08 Apr, 2024 (E)Travelling Waves
  24. 24Two open organ pipes of lengths and resonate at and harmonics respectively. The difference of frequencies for the given modes is _______ . (06 Apr, 2024 (E)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  25. 25A sonometer wire of resonating length has a fundamental frequency of when kept under some tension. The resonating length of the wire with fu05 Apr, 2024 (E)Vibration of String
  26. 26A tuning fork resonates with a sonometer wire of length 1 m stretched with a tension of 6 N . When the tension in the wire is changed to 54 01 Feb, 2024 (M)Vibration of String
  27. 27The fundamental frequency of a closed organ pipe is equal to the first overtone frequency of an open organ pipe. If length of the open pipe 31 Jan, 2024 (M)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  28. 28The speed of sound in oxygen at S.T.P. will be approximately: (Given, R = 8 . 3 J K - 1 , γ = 1 . 4 )31 Jan, 2024 (E)Speed of Sound Waves
  29. 29In a closed organ pipe, the frequency of fundamental note is 30 Hz . A certain amount of water is now poured in the organ pipe so that the f30 Jan, 2024 (M)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  30. 30A point source is emitting sound waves of intensity 16 × 10 - 8 W m - 2 at the origin. The difference in intensity (magnitude only) at two p30 Jan, 2024 (E)Travelling Waves
  31. 31A closed organ pipe 150 cm long gives 7 beats per second with an open organ pipe of length 350 cm , both vibrating in fundamental mode. The 27 Jan, 2024 (E)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  32. 32The fundamental frequency of vibration of a string between two rigid support is 50 Hz . The mass of the string is 18 g and its linear mass d15 Apr, 2023 (M)Speed of Sound Waves
  33. 33In an experiment with sonometer when a mass of 180 g is attached to the string, it vibrates with fundamental frequency of 30 Hz . When a mas13 Apr, 2023 (E)Vibration of String
  34. 34For a certain organ pipe, the first three resonance frequencies are in the ratio of 1 : 3 : 5 respectively. If the frequency of fifth harmon12 Apr, 2023 (M)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  35. 35The equation of wave is given by Y = 10 - 2 sin 2 160 t - 0 . 5 x + 4 , where x and Y are in m and t in s . The speed of the wave is _______11 Apr, 2023 (M)Basics of Mechanical Waves
  36. 36A car P travelling at 20 m s - 1 sounds its horn at a frequency of 400 Hz . Another car Q is travelling behind the first car in the same dir11 Apr, 2023 (E)Doppler's Effect
  37. 37A wire of density 8 10 3 kg m - 3 is stretched between two clamps 0 . 5 m apart. The extension developed in the wire is 3 . 2 10 - 4 m . If 11 Apr, 2023 (E)Vibration of String
  38. 38A transverse harmonic wave on a string is given by y x , t = 5 sin 6 t + 0 . 003 x where x and y are in cm and t in sec . The wave velocity 10 Apr, 2023 (M)Basics of Mechanical Waves
  39. 39The engine of a train moving with speed 10 m s - 1 towards a platform sounds a whistle at frequency 400 Hz . The frequency heard by a passen08 Apr, 2023 (M)Doppler's Effect
  40. 40An organ pipe 40 cm long is open at both ends. The speed of sound in air is 360 m s - 1 . The frequency of the second harmonic is _ _ _ _ _ 08 Apr, 2023 (M)Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  41. 41A guitar string of length 90 cm vibrates with a fundamental frequency of 120 Hz . The length of the string producing a fundamental of 180 Hz08 Apr, 2023 (E)Vibration of String
  42. 42A person driving car at a constant speed of 15 m s - 1 is approaching a vertical wall. The person notices a change of 40 Hz in the frequency06 Apr, 2023 (M)Doppler's Effect
  43. 43The ratio of speed of sound in hydrogen gas to the speed of sound in oxygen gas at the same temperature is:06 Apr, 2023 (E)Speed of Sound Waves
  44. 44A steel wire with mass per unit length 7 . 0 10 3 kg m 1 is under tension of 70 N . The speed of transverse waves in the wire will be:01 Feb, 2023 (M)Basics of Mechanical Waves
  45. 45For a solid rod, the Young s modulus of elasticity is 3 . 2 10 11 N m - 2 and density is 8 10 3 kg m - 3 . The velocity of longitudinal wave31 Jan, 2023 (E)Speed of Sound Waves
  46. 46The displacement equations of two interfering waves are given by y 1 = 10 sin t + 3 cm , y 2 = 5 sin t + 3 cos t cm respectively. The amplit31 Jan, 2023 (E)Interference and Superposition of Waves
  47. 47A person observes two moving trains, A reaching the station and B leaving the station with equal speed of 30 m s - 1 . If both trains emit s29 Jan, 2023 (M)Doppler's Effect
  48. 48The distance between two consecutive points with phase difference of 60 in a wave of frequency 500 Hz is 6 . 0 m . The velocity with which w25 Jan, 2023 (M)Travelling Waves
  49. 49Match List I with List II List I List II A Troposphere I Approximate 65 - 75 km over Earth s surface B E-Part of Stratosphere II Approximate25 Jan, 2023 (E)Travelling Waves
  50. 50A train blowing a whistle of frequency 320 Hz approaches an observer standing on the platform at a speed of 66 m s - 1 . The frequency obser25 Jan, 2023 (E)Doppler's Effect

Frequently Asked Questions

1.How many questions are available for Waves and Sound?

This chapter includes 179 questions compiled from JEE Main papers spanning 2002 to 2026.

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

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

3.Is Waves and Sound an important chapter for JEE Main Physics?

Waves and Sound has appeared in 25 of the 25 years of JEE Main papers covered here, with 179 questions across 142 papers - about one per paper it appears in.

4.What is the difficulty level of Waves and Sound questions in JEE Main?

Of the 179 questions analysed for this chapter, 36% are easy, 50% moderate and 15% tough. 2022 had the most, with 22 questions.

5.Which topics in Waves and Sound should I focus on?

These topics have carried the most weightage in Waves and Sound:

  • Doppler's Effect - 40 questions (22%)
  • Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column) - 34 questions (19%)
  • Travelling Waves - 27 questions (15%)
  • Doppler's Effect has produced the most tough questions (9).
6.Is Waves and Sound's weightage in JEE Main going up or down?

Across all 142 papers analysed, Waves and Sound has averaged about 1.3 questions per paper. In the last three years (2024–2026), that average has fallen, at about 0.6 questions per paper. Use the year-wise numbers on this page for the exact trend before you decide how much time to give it.