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Electromagnetic Waves is the shortest chapter in the whole syllabus and NEET(UG) almost always takes one question from it. Nearly every one of those questions is recall: the order of the spectrum, which radiation does what, and the basic properties of an electromagnetic wave. There is no reason at all to lose this mark. Ten questions below. Give them ten honest minutes.
What this chapter carries in NEET(UG)
- Usually 1 question every year, which is 4 marks.
- The order of the electromagnetic spectrum and the uses of each band are asked most often.
- The properties of the wave itself and displacement current make up the rest.
What the syllabus says
In the syllabus (Unit 15, Electromagnetic Waves): Displacement current, electromagnetic waves and their characteristics, the transverse nature of electromagnetic waves, the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays, and applications of electromagnetic waves.
Taken out in 2024: the whole Communication Systems chapter, which used to follow this one.
Taken from the NMC syllabus for NEET (UG) 2026, the latest one published. See the full syllabus, unit by unit.
Formulas you must know by heart
| Speed in vacuum | c = 1/√(μ0ε0) = 3 × 108 m/s |
| Speed in a medium | v = 1/√(με) |
| Ratio of the two fields | E0/B0 = c |
| Intensity | I = ½ε0E02c |
| Momentum carried | p = U/c |
| Displacement current | Id = ε0 dΦE/dt |
| Spectrum, shortest wavelength first | gamma, X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwave, radio |
| Visible range | about 400 nm to 700 nm |
Every band in that spectrum line travels at exactly the same speed in vacuum. What changes from gamma rays to radio waves is only the wavelength and the frequency, and their product is always c.
Ten questions. Give yourself ten minutes.
Write your answers down before you scroll. A question you looked up is a question you have not answered.
Q1. The speed of electromagnetic waves in vacuum is
- (a) 3 × 108 m/s
- (b) 3 × 106 m/s
- (c) 3 × 1010 m/s
- (d) 108 m/s
Q2. In an electromagnetic wave, the electric and magnetic fields are
- (a) parallel to each other
- (b) at right angles to each other and to the direction of travel
- (c) exactly opposite to each other
- (d) at 45° to each other
Q3. For an electromagnetic wave in vacuum, the ratio E0/B0 is equal to
- (a) 1
- (b) c
- (c) 1/c
- (d) c2
Q4. Of these, the radiation with the longest wavelength is
- (a) X-rays
- (b) radio waves
- (c) gamma rays
- (d) ultraviolet
Q5. Of these, the radiation with the highest frequency is
- (a) infrared
- (b) microwaves
- (c) gamma rays
- (d) visible light
Q6. The idea of displacement current was put forward by
- (a) Faraday
- (b) Maxwell
- (c) Ampere
- (d) Hertz
Q7. The ozone layer of the atmosphere mainly absorbs
- (a) infrared
- (b) ultraviolet
- (c) radio waves
- (d) X-rays
Q8. Electromagnetic waves are produced by
- (a) a charge at rest
- (b) a charge moving with constant velocity
- (c) an accelerating charge
- (d) a neutral particle
Q9. Microwaves are used in
- (a) radar
- (b) detecting bone fractures
- (c) measuring very high temperatures
- (d) sterilising surgical instruments
Q10. Arranged in order of increasing wavelength, the correct order is
- (a) X-rays, visible light, microwaves
- (b) microwaves, visible light, X-rays
- (c) visible light, X-rays, microwaves
- (d) X-rays, microwaves, visible light
Answer key, with a hint for each
| Q1 | (a) | From c = 1/√(μ0ε0). Maxwell got this number from electricity alone and realised light must be an electromagnetic wave. |
| Q2 | (b) | E, B and the direction of travel form a mutually perpendicular set, in that order. |
| Q3 | (b) | E0 = cB0. The electric field is numerically much the larger of the two. |
| Q4 | (b) | Radio waves sit at the long end of the spectrum. Gamma rays sit at the short end. |
| Q5 | (c) | Shortest wavelength means highest frequency, and gamma rays have the shortest of all. |
| Q6 | (b) | He added it to Ampere’s law so that the law would also hold in the gap of a charging capacitor. |
| Q7 | (b) | That absorption is what shields us from the harmful part of sunlight. |
| Q8 | (c) | A charge at rest gives only an electric field, and one moving steadily gives a steady magnetic field as well. Radiation needs acceleration. |
| Q9 | (a) | Radar, and also the microwave oven. X-rays detect fractures and ultraviolet sterilises. |
| Q10 | (a) | X-rays are shortest, then visible light, then microwaves. |
Now mark yourself honestly
NEET(UG) marks the way it marks. Use the same rule here:
- +4 for a right answer
- −1 for a wrong one
- 0 for a blank
So ten questions here are out of 40. In the real paper, 45 Physics questions are out of 180.
If you scored 32 or more, the basics of this chapter are secure. Move to harder questions, not more of these.
If you scored below 24, do not feel bad about it. You have just found out something useful before the exam did. Go back to the formula table above, learn it properly, and sit these ten again tomorrow.
And if you guessed a few and they landed, count those as wrong. A guess that works once will not work in May.
The full chapter, on a clock
Ten questions tell you a little. Forty-five tell you the truth.
The Beginner paper for Electromagnetic Waves is waiting for you on the portal: 45 questions, 45 minutes, marked out of 180, with the answer key and a hint for every question. Sit it tonight and you will know exactly where this chapter stands.
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