Physics - Wave Optics
Practise 17 NEST (NISER) previous year questions on Wave Optics, compiled from papers spanning 2012 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.
Wave Optics has been asked in 10 of the 16 years of NEST (NISER) papers analysed (2011–2026), with 17 questions in all. 0% of them were easy, 65% moderate and 35% tough. Most of its questions came from 2021, with 3 questions that year. In the last three years (2024–2026) it had 2 questions across 4 papers, about 0.5 per paper.
The chapter's 5 topics are not weighted equally: Interference of Light (6 questions, 35%), Youngs Double Slit Experiment (5 questions, 29%), and Polarization of Light (4 questions, 24%) have been asked the most. Interference of Light has also led over the last five years, with 3 questions. Interference of Light has produced the most tough questions (3).
- 1A laser beam of wavelength is split and sent into two vacuum cavities of equal length as shown in the figure. A detector can register an int2026Interference of Light
- 2Consider a Young double slit experiment with pinholes at coordinates and and a screen at . When a light of wavelength is used, the shape of 2024 (Session 2)Youngs Double Slit Experiment
- 3Two plane waves having amplitude are described by and . The wavevectors and pass through the origin making an angle of with -axis, as shown 2023 (Session 1)Interference of Light
- 4Consider the experimental set-up shown in the figure to observe the interference pattern. Note that the prism angle is close to . The correc2023 (Session 2)Interference of Light
- 5A parallel beam of light, linearly polarized along the -axis, passes through a combination of convex lenses and mirrors as shown in the figu2021 (Session 1)Polarization of Light
- 6Suppose you are doing a diffraction experiment using a white light source on a piece of grating in which the number of grooves is 10,000 lin2021 (Session 2)Diffraction of Light
- 7Consider four identical monochromatic wave sources (as shown in the figure) which produce plane waves of same wavelength . Sources and C lie2021 (Session 2)Interference of Light
- 8The refractive index of certain material is given by where represents density of the material such that and is a constant. A planar wavefron2020 (Session 1)Wave Theory and Wavefronts
- 9A beam of laser light is incident on an analyzer which is rotated on a spectrometer stage. If the intensity of the transmitted light changes2020 (Session 2)Polarization of Light
- 10White light with uniform intensity across the visible wavelength range of 400 nm to 800 nm is incident almost perpendicularly from above ont2019 (Session 1)Interference of Light
- 11The intensity of the central maximum in Young's double-slit experiment is . The intensity at the first minimum is zero and the distance betw2017Youngs Double Slit Experiment
- 12A mixture of polarised and unpolarised light is incident on a polariser. As the polariser is rotated through , it is found that the minimum 2017Polarization of Light
- 13Two coherent monochromatic light beams of intensities and interfere in a Young's double slit experimental setup to produce a fringe pattern 2015Interference of Light
- 14In a Young double slit experiment, the distance between the slits is and the distance of the screen from the slits is 5 cm . An infrared mon2015Youngs Double Slit Experiment
- 15In a Young's double slit experiment 10 fringes are observed in a given segment of the screen when light of wavelength 500.0 nm is used. When2014Youngs Double Slit Experiment
- 16Two coherent point radio sources and , separated by a distance , are radiating radio waves of wavelength . A detector is moved in the plane 2012Youngs Double Slit Experiment
- 17Light of intensity is incident on air-water interface with an incident angle . The angle between the refracted and the reflected beams is . 2012Polarization of Light
Frequently Asked Questions
1.How many questions are available for Wave Optics?
This chapter includes 17 questions compiled from NEST (NISER) papers spanning 2012 to 2026.
2.Are these questions only from NEST (NISER), or from other exams too?
These are NEST (NISER) questions specifically for the Wave Optics chapter. Questions from other exams like JEE Main or NTA Abhyas (JEE Main) are organised separately under their respective exam sections.
3.Is Wave Optics an important chapter for NEST (NISER) Physics?
Wave Optics has appeared in 10 of the 16 years of NEST (NISER) papers covered here, with 17 questions across 13 papers - about one per paper it appears in.
4.What is the difficulty level of Wave Optics questions in NEST (NISER)?
Of the 17 questions analysed for this chapter, 0% are easy, 65% moderate and 35% tough. 2021 had the most, with 3 questions.
5.Which topics in Wave Optics should I focus on?
These topics have carried the most weightage in Wave Optics:
- Interference of Light - 6 questions (35%)
- Youngs Double Slit Experiment - 5 questions (29%)
- Polarization of Light - 4 questions (24%)
- Interference of Light has produced the most tough questions (3).
6.Is Wave Optics's weightage in NEST (NISER) going up or down?
Across all 13 papers analysed, Wave Optics has averaged about 1.3 questions per paper. In the last three years (2024–2026), that average has fallen, at about 0.5 questions per paper. Use the year-wise numbers on this page for the exact trend before you decide how much time to give it.