HC Verma Physics book is the ‘Bible’ for JEE preparation – Review by IIT Kanpur student Ashish Mohan

I am a student of IIT Kanpur – Ashish Mohan and I highly recommend H.C. Verma Concepts of Physics book that comes in two volumes for JEE preparation. It is well-organized and quite simple in its approach. It explains Physics right from the scratch and in an easy language.

Perhaps, these are the main reasons why this book has been ruling the market for decades and generations of IITians have referred to it.

Key Strengths of HC Verma Physics book

Flow of the book is natural:
Unlike several other Physics books for JEE preparation, HC Verma Physics book does not assume that you are already skilled in mathematics when you start studying Physics. It has introductory chapters that teach students all the mathematical tools they will need to use in the subsequent chapters. This includes basic mathematical concepts and Calculus that later prove to be quite handy in solving a variety of Physics problems asked in JEE exam.

Besides, the actual Physics chapters are also organized quite well. Concepts are introduced in a systematic manner and explained step-by-step. There is no reference to a topic in a ‘future’ chapter.

Simple Language:

Most Indian students will appreciate that HC Verma book for Physics uses easy English. Besides, examples used to explain a concept are also picked up from daily life experiences of Indian students. Simple language, example problems derived from daily life and easy-to-understand explanations help the beginners to understand JEE Physics clearly.

Here is a book from an Indian writer who understands the level of Indian students quite well and uses it to catapult them into deeper insights about Physics.

How to use HC Verma book for JEE preparation?

For the past twenty years, HC Verma Physics book has remained the ‘Bible’ for Class 11 and Class 12 students. You just cannot put it down. My teachers and seniors recommended it to me and now, I am the one recommending it to other IIT aspirants.

Let me tell you my first-hand experience and how I used this book to crack JEE:

How to use HC Verma book for JEE preparation?

For the past twenty years, HC Verma Physics book has remained the ‘Bible’ for Class 11 and Class 12 students. You just cannot put it down. My teachers and seniors recommended it to me and now, I am the one recommending it to other IIT aspirants.

Let me tell you my first-hand experience and how I used this book to crack JEE:

• HC Verma introduced topics step-by-step. So, one should start reading the book right from the first chapter. If you jump a chapter and read the book in a random manner, you will miss the essence of its organization.

• Read the entire chapter and understand each and every concept well before you start solving its problems. It is important to lay the right foundation first and for it, you should read it at your own pace.

• Example problems included in the book are there to help you understand a concept better. Solve them there and then. Do not postpone solving them or skip them, as they help you retain what you have learnt better.

• When you have solved an example problem, check it with the solution given in the book in this manner:

• If your answer is correct, check whether you have arrived at it using the correct process. Compare why the process in the book is better. You can check with your teacher for this.
• If your answer is incorrect, check ‘why’ it is wrong. In the learning stage, it is better to learn from your mistakes.
  • In case, you haven’t understood the concept of the question, revise the chapter again.
  • If there is a procedural or mathematical error, learn the correct method. It will help you immensely in the actual JEE exam.

• Besides the example problems, also solve questions at the end of each chapter.

• Questions in each chapter are organized methodically too. So, you should start solving questions section by section and from first to last question within a section. Hence, you should start solving from first question in Section 1, finish with that section, and then, solve first question in the second section and so on…

What is missing in the book?

H.C. Verma takes care of Physics preparation for JEE completely in his Concepts of Physics books. However, one does need to refer to a wider variety of problems for more practice. For this, I used sample papers given in other books, mock tests of our coaching classes, test series and previous years’ questions papers.

Use Concepts of Physics as your staple book and refer to other source for practice questions only.

FWhat you shouldn’t do?

Many students follow multiple books for JEE preparation for Physics book. It just serves to confuse them. I advise you to study from only one book at a time.

If you are unable to understand a topic or a topic is missing from Book 1, then only refer to that topic in Book 2.

One Last Tip…

Even if you have the best book or study material in hand, in the end, it will be your passion and hard work that will fetch success for you. So, study hard and jump to the top!

This post was published by Aditya Singhal, co-founder of askIITians.