IIT JEE Mechanics Revision Tip: Try the D-W-M-Y Formula!

JEE preparation is not just another ‘stepping stone’ of your engineering career. It takes you to the hallowed gates of the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) – that have been a launch pad for hundreds of celebrities we see all around us – in India and worldwide.

So, as I prepared for IIT JEE, my sight was always on the six older IITs – the glorious ones that have such a large glorious line of well-known alumni that it is difficult for one to remember who’s who.

As a JEE aspirant, I used to love Physics. I could visualize the question in my mind and see the solution reveal itself. I could almost see why a particular solution cannot be correct in Mechanics – as it just didn’t fit the picture.

I soon found that IIT JEE Mechanics is quite an important topic in the exam. A large number of JEE questions were based on this topic and most of them were quite challenging – ones that I liked to solved. For Mechanics and all the other IIT JEE topics that I found tough and were conceptual in nature, I evolved a D-W-M-Y revision formula (which worked quite well for me).

Here are my JEE tips for Mechanics and other topics you find difficult:

D-W-M-Y Revision Formula (for 2-year preparation time):

The formula is quite simple. Revision the topic you study today after a Day (i.e. tomorrow), after a Week, after a Month and then, after a Year. So, if you are preparing for JEE 2016 and you studied Electromagnetism on December 1, 2014 (Monday), you should revise it on:

• ?1^st Revision: December 2, 2014 (Tuesday)

• 2^nd Revision: December 8, 2014 (Monday)

• 3^rd Revision: January 1, 2015 (Thursday)

• 4^th Revision: December 1, 2015 (Tuesday)

For revision purposes, make sure you make notes of the topic you studied today. In the notes, write the theory, make diagrams, note down formulae (or equations in Chemistry) and include at least 1-2 problems on each concept covered in the topic.

Don’t forget to put the date on top of the page (so that you don’t forget when to revise it). During revision, go through the theory, formula sheet, diagrams, equations and solved problems as well. This plan will surely help you to retain whatever you have learnt better.

Strategy for Problem Solving

While solving a past year paper, we may come across problems that we are not able to solve. The concepts are unfamiliar and the solution keeps eluding us. To prepare for such a situation in exam, it is good to look at the answer of the question and then, try to derive at it using the concepts you know. Try to guess how one would have reached at a particular solution and then, compare it with the solved answer to the question. Or you may ask your teacher to check if you have used the right approach.

Of course, you do have to keep a tab on the time you spend on a problem – as JEE syllabus is quite vast. It is not practical to spend an entire night on each and every difficult problem that you come across. So, try to crack the problem for 3-4 times and if you are still unable to solve it, look at the solution in the study material or take an expert’s help.

When you try to go through the concepts you have studied, you retain them better for the exam. Besides, if you ever come across a problem similar to the one you have tried to solve better, you will certainly be able to solve it. Teachers’ help and incessant practice are two keys to solve the toughest of JEE topics and Mechanics is certainly one of them.

Sentimentality and Mechanics do not mix

Mechanics can throw some very hard questions at students. But in JEE, all questions carry nearly equal weightage. So when you are stuck on a question, get over that 'I'll prove that I can crack all Mechanics questions' mentality and learn to move on. Do not make the mistake of solving one Irodov-level question at the cost of losing chance of solving 10 easier questions in the same time. Your goal should be to score more rather than giving in to the temptation of proving yourself better than others.

Kinematics and Particle Dynamics are the two most important topics in IIT JEE Mechanics. If you are not cut out for Mechanics, focus on other easier topics first, such as Optics, Electricity and Magnetism. The cut off for IIT JEE Physics paper is around 35%.

Be Ready to Learn

There is a Zen story where a student asked the teacher for the secret on how to learn well. The teacher asked him to pour tea in a full cup. The student hesitated but the teacher insisted. The tea overflowed. Then, the teacher said that if you want to learn something, you have to empty yourself first and be ready to accept knowledge.

JEE aspirants should take a leaf out of the story too. Whenever you come across a better solution or a quicker method to solve a problem, note it immediately. Short cuts, tricks and knowledge of as many concepts as you can remembers go a long way in solving IIT JEE Mechanics problems quickly, efficiently and accurately. So, always be on alert to find the best solution to a given problem.