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Physics - Ray Optics

Practise 21 NEST (NISER) previous year questions on Ray Optics, compiled from papers spanning 2011 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 NEST (NISER) tests.

Ray Optics has been asked in 12 of the 16 years of NEST (NISER) papers analysed (2011–2026), with 21 questions in all. 5% of them were easy, 71% moderate and 24% tough. Most of its questions came from 2024, with 4 questions that year. In the last three years (2024–2026) it had 7 questions across 4 papers, about 1.8 per paper.

The chapter's 6 topics are not weighted equally: Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface (6 questions, 29%), Refraction of light from plane surface (6 questions, 29%), and Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror (4 questions, 19%) have been asked the most. Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface has also led over the last five years, with 3 questions. Refraction of light from plane surface has produced the most tough questions (2).

  1. 1A spherical glass bottle having negligible wall thickness is placed in air. When the bottle is completely filled with water, its focal lengt2026Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  2. 2The figure shows a ray of light going from a medium of refractive index to a medium of refractive index such that . Select the correct optio2025Refraction of light from plane surface
  3. 3Four long glass plates with refractive indices are stacked in parallel as shown in the figure. A light ray, traveling in the first plate, is2025Critical angle and total internal reflection
  4. 4Consider a linear object of height placed in front of a convex lens of focal length which gives rise to an image of height cm on the screen 2024 (Session 1)Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror
  5. 5A powerful point light source is placed at the bottom of a large pool containing water. The depth of the pool is 5 m and the refractive inde2024 (Session 1)Critical angle and total internal reflection
  6. 6The minimum distance, in cm, between an object and it's real image through a convex lens of focal length 10 cm is2024 (Session 1)Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror
  7. 7The power of a system of two thin lenses which share a common axis and are separated by a distance is given by . Consider two thin lenses wi2024 (Session 2)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  8. 8A double convex lens of the objective is changed to plano-convex. The objective is made of a plastic material with refractive index 1.3. The2023 (Session 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  9. 9A beam of monochromatic light is incident on one face of a prism of angle . If the angle of incidence is and the refractive index of the pri2023 (Session 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  10. 10A transparent glass slab of thickness is placed with its face on a horizontal table. A hemispherical water drop of radius condenses on the g2023 (Session 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  11. 11A glass prism, of angle , is placed in front of two mutually perpendicular mirrors, as shown in the figure below. The refractive index of th2022 (Session 2)Prism and Dispersion of Light
  12. 12A jeweller examines a 1.0 cm diamond through a small magnifying glass (called a loupe) having an angular magnification of 3.5 . The near poi2021 (Session 1)Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  13. 13A ray of light is incident perpendicularly at point A on a rectangular medium with different refractive indices, and , in a configuration as2021 (Session 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  14. 14Consider an optical medium where refractive index varies linearly with height i.e. where is a positive constant and is the height above the 2020 (Session 2)Refraction of light from plane surface
  15. 15A square object of size consists of two dark spots which are apart. The object is viewed using a compound microscope of numerical aperture 02019 (Session 1)Optical Instruments
  16. 16Unpolarized red light is incident on the surface of a lake at a grazing angle . An observer seeing the light reflected from the water surfac2019 (Session 2)Critical angle and total internal reflection
  17. 17An object is placed at a distance of 10 cm from a thin convex lens of focal length 5 cm . A plane mirror is kept 15 cm behind the convex len2019 (Session 2)Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror
  18. 18The distance between an object and a screen is 18 cm . A lens of focal length 4 cm is placed between them so that the image of the object is2018Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror
  19. 19A fish is 10.0 cm from the front surface of a spherical fish bowl of radius 20.0 cm , as shown in the figure. The walls of the bowl are thin2016Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface
  20. 20The figure represents the circular cross section of a transparent solid cylinder of radius and refractive index placed in air. A ray of ligh2014Refraction of light from plane surface
  21. 21The distance between the objective and eyepiece of a compound microscope is 0.12 m and their focal lengths are the same. When an object is p2011Lens Formula, Refraction of light from curved surface

Frequently Asked Questions

1.How many questions are available for Ray Optics?

This chapter includes 21 questions compiled from NEST (NISER) papers spanning 2011 to 2026.

2.Are these questions only from NEST (NISER), or from other exams too?

These are NEST (NISER) 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 NEST (NISER) Physics?

Ray Optics has appeared in 12 of the 16 years of NEST (NISER) papers covered here, with 21 questions across 16 papers - about one per paper it appears in.

4.What is the difficulty level of Ray Optics questions in NEST (NISER)?

Of the 21 questions analysed for this chapter, 5% are easy, 71% moderate and 24% tough. 2024 had the most, with 4 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 - 6 questions (29%)
  • Refraction of light from plane surface - 6 questions (29%)
  • Mirror Formula, Reflection in Spherical Mirror - 4 questions (19%)
  • Refraction of light from plane surface has produced the most tough questions (2).
6.Is Ray Optics's weightage in NEST (NISER) going up or down?

Across all 16 papers analysed, Ray Optics has averaged about 1.3 questions per paper. In the last three years (2024–2026), that average has risen, at about 1.8 questions per paper. Use the year-wise numbers on this page for the exact trend before you decide how much time to give it.