Wave Optics — JEE Main PYQs & Practice Questions

Wave Optics is a Physics chapter in the JEE Main syllabus. This page brings together 138 previous-year and practice questions on Wave Optics, organised into 5 topics: Huygens' Principle, Young's Double Slit Experiment, Interference in Thin Films, Single Slit Diffraction and Polarisation. Most questions come with a step-by-step solution you can work through free in PrepWiser.

Download Wave Optics JEE Main PYQs as a free PDF (with answer key)

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Chapter weightage: how many questions each chapter had per shift in the 2024–26 papers.

Huygens' Principle

• In a double slit experiment, when one of the slits is covered by a transparent mica…
• A beam of light consisting of wavelengths 650 nm and 550 nm illuminates the Young's…
• In a double slit experiment the distance between the slits is 0.1 cm and the screen is…
• With what speed should a galaxy move outward with respect to earth so that the sodium-D…
• In a Young's double slit experiment set up, the two slits are kept 0.4 mm apart and…
• In interference experiment the path difference between two interfering waves at a point…
• Given below are two statements : Statement I : In a Young's double slit experiment, the…
• The wavelength of light, while it is passing through water is 540 nm . The refractive…
• In the Young's double slit experiment the intensity produced by each one of the…
• In Young's double slit experiment, the fringe width of the interference pattern produced…
• Light emerges out of a convex lens when a source of light kept at its focus. The shape…
• In a Young's double slit experiment, the intensity at some point on the screen is found…
• The maximum intensity in a Young's double slit experiment is I₀. Distance between the…
• In two separate Young's double-slit experimental set-ups and two monochromatic light…
• For a specific wavelength 670 nm of light coming from a galaxy moving with velocity v…
• Given below are two statements : Statement I : A plane wave after passing through prism…
• A galaxy is moving away from the earth at a speed of 286 kms⁻¹. The shift in the…
• A light wave is propagating with plane wave fronts of the type x+y+z= constant. Th angle…
• Two waves of intensity ratio 1: 9 cross each other at a point. The resultant intensities…

Young's Double Slit Experiment

• In the figure below, P and Q are two equally intense coherent sources emitting radiation…
• Interference fringes are observed on a screen by illuminating two thin slits 1 mm apart…
• White light is passed through a double slit and interference is observed on a screen 1.5…
• In a Young's double slit experiment, two slits are located 1.5 mm apart. The distance of…
• Two light beams of intensities in the ratio of 9 : 4 are allowed to interfere. The ratio…
• A telescope with objective diameter R is used to observe a distant star emitting light…
• A double slit interference experiment performed with a light of wavelength 600 nm forms…
• Monochromatic light of wavelength 500 nm is used in Young's double slit experiment. An…
• In Young's double slit experiment, two slits S₁ and S₂ are 'd' distance apart and the…
• A Young's double-slit experiment is performed using monochromatic light of wavelength λ…
• In Young's double slit experiment, monochromatic light of wavelength 5000 Å is used. The…
• In the Young's double slit experiment, the distance between the slits varies in time as…
• The Young's double slit interference experiment is performed using light consisting of…
• In a Young's double slit experiment, an angular width of the fringe is 0.35° on a screen…
• In a Young's double slit experiment, the intensity at a point is (1/4)ᵗʰ of the maximum…
• For constructive interference, the phase difference between the waves must be:
• The two light beams having intensities I and 9I interfere to produce a fringe pattern on…
• Two light beams of intensities 4I and 9I interfere on a screen. The phase difference…
• Two coherent monochromatic light beams of intensities 4I and 9I are superimposed. The…
• In a Young's double slit experiment, a laser light of 560 nm produces an interference…

Interference in Thin Films

• A thin transparent film with refractive index 1.4 , is held on circular ring of radius…
• Two light waves having the same wavelength λ in vacuum are in phase initially. Then the…
• A transparent film of refractive index, 2.0 is coated on a glass slab of refractive…

Single Slit Diffraction

• If the measured angular separation between the second minimum to the left of the central…
• Visible light of wavelength 6000 × 10⁻⁸ cm falls normally on a single slit and produces…
• A microscope was initially placed in air (refractive index 1). It is then immersed in…
• A microwave of wavelength 2.0 cm falls normally on a slit of width 4.0 cm. The angular…
• A monochromatic light of wavelength 6000 Å is incident on the single slit of width 0.01…
• The aperture diameter of a telescope is 5m. The separation between the moon and the…
• In free space, an electromagnetic wave of 3 GHz frequency strikes over the edge of an…
• Which of the following are true for a single slit diffraction? A. Width of central…
• Consider the diffraction pattern obtained from the sunlight incident on a pinhole of…
• A scientist is observing a bacteria through a compound microscope. For better analysis…
• In a single slit diffraction pattern, a light of wavelength 6000Aᵒ is used. The distance…
• The phenomenon of bending of light around edges of obstacles is called:
• In single slit diffraction pattern, the wavelength of light used is 628 nm and slit…
• A slit of width a is illuminated by light of wavelength λ. The linear separation between…
• In a single slit experiment, a parallel beam of green light of wavelength 550 nm passes…
• Sodium light of wavelengths 650 nm and 655 nm is used to study diffraction at a single…
• Orange light of wavelength 6000 × 10 –10 m illuminates a single slit of width 0.6 × 10…
• A single slit of width a is illuminated by a monochromatic light of wavelength 600 nm…
• A parallel beam of monochromatic light of wavelength 5000 Aᵒ is incident normally on a…
• The diffraction pattern of a light of wavelength 400 nm diffracting from a slit of width…

Polarisation

• Unpolarised light is incident on the boundary between two dielectric media, whose…
• When a polaroid sheet is rotated between two crossed polaroids then the transmitted…
• As shown in the figure, three identical polaroids P₁, P₂ and P₃ are placed one after…
• An unpolarized light of intensity I₀ passes through polarizer and then through a certain…
• A light whose electric field vectors are completely removed by using a good polaroid…
• Polarization of light proves that light is:
• When unpolarized light is incident at an angle of 60° on a transparent medium from air…
• An unpolarized light is incident on the plane interface of air-dielectric medium shown…
• A source of light is placed in front of a screen. Intensity of light on the screen is I…
• Two plane polarized light waves combine at a certain point whose electric field…
• An unpolarized light of certain intensity passes through a combination of two polarizers…
• A beam of plane polarised light of large cross-sectional area and uniform intensity of…
• Two polarisers P₁ and P₂ are placed in such a way that the intensity of the transmitted…
• An unpolarised light beam of intensity 2 I₀ is passed through a polaroid P and then…
• A beam of unpolarised light of intensity I₀ is passed through a polaroid A and then…
• A polarizer - analyser set is adjusted such that the intensity of light coming out of…
• When an unpolarized light falls at a particular angle on a glass plate (placed in air)…
• Unpolarised light of intensity 32 Wm⁻² passes through the combination of three polaroids…
• Two polaroide A and B are placed in such a way that the pass-axis of polaroids are…
• Given below are two statements : Statement I : If the Brewster's angle for the light…

More Physics chapters

• Basic Mathematics for Physics
• Units, Dimensions & Errors
• Rectilinear Motion
• Vectors
• Projectile Motion & Relative Motion
• Newton's Laws of Motion
• Friction
• Circular Motion
• Work, Energy & Power
• Centre of Mass & Linear Momentum
• Collision
• Rotational Motion
• Gravitation
• Simple Harmonic Motion
• Elasticity
• Fluid Mechanics
• Surface Tension
• Thermometry & Calorimetry
• Kinetic Theory of Gases
• Thermodynamics
• Heat Transfer
• Mechanical Waves
• Sound Waves
• Experimental Skills
• Electrostatics I — Charges, Field & Gauss's Law
• Electrostatics II — Potential & Capacitance
• Current Electricity
• Moving Charges & Magnetism
• Magnetism & Matter
• Electromagnetic Induction
• Alternating Current
• Electromagnetic Waves
• Ray Optics
• Dual Nature of Radiation & Matter
• Atomic Physics
• Nuclear Physics
• Semiconductors & Electronic Devices
• Communication Systems

Frequently asked questions

How many Wave Optics questions are there for JEE Main?

PrepWiser has 138 Wave Optics questions for JEE Main, grouped into 5 topics such as Huygens' Principle, Young's Double Slit Experiment and Interference in Thin Films.

Are these Wave Optics questions from previous-year JEE Main papers?

Yes — most are genuine previous-year questions from past JEE Main papers, and the rest are practice questions written to match the JEE Main pattern and difficulty.

Where can I see the answers and solutions to these Wave Optics questions?

Open any Wave Optics question in PrepWiser (it is free) to attempt it; most come with a step-by-step solution.