Education

How Should I Study a Gaseous State for the JEE?

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By John Wick

“States of Matter” is a part of unit five of the class 11th syllabus, and is a chapter in itself in the NCERT Chemistry book for 11th Class. Before we discuss its relevance to the JEE exam, let us fathom what the JEE exams mean to the student community.

The JEE Mains and the JEE advanced are sequential engineering entrance examinations conducted for admission into premier engineering colleges in India. The JEE Mains is a preliminary level examination, that is used to select the limited number of students who will be made eligible to take the JEE Advanced examination.

Out of the total number of students who take the JEE mains, only 0.01% of the students manage to be selected for admissions into IITs and other top government engineering colleges. With these statistics, one can get a fair idea of how competitive the JEE examination is. Therefore, it becomes imperative for the student to not only study hard but to also study smart. Every mark matters and every incorrect answer spells doom.

The chapter “States of Matter” is an interesting topic and also features as MCQ questions regularly in the JEE Mains examination. As with every chapter of NCERT, this chapter too has its learning objectives set. The major learning outcomes of this chapter include the following,

  • The learner will develop the ability to describe the different states of matter with respect to the balance that exists between intermolecular forces and thermal energy of particles.
  • Explain and apply the various laws pertaining to the behaviour of gases, as well as interrelate the effect of parameters such as temperature, pressure etc on the behaviour of gases
  • Learn about the application of all the gas laws in real world scenarios such as industrial and other applications
  • Know about real gases and its characteristics
  • Explain the liquefaction of gases, and describe all the conditions needed for the liquefaction of gases.
  • Garner indepth knowledge of the liquid and gaseous states and comprehend the continuity between the two states.
  • Comprehend the differences that exist between the gaseous state and vapors
  • Explain the states of matter and their properties with respect to the intermolecular forces of attraction

The first and the foremost thing to do, for any student, when they are studying any topic, especially with an examination perspective, is to ensure that they have thoroughly read the NCERT book. There is no book that is as lucidly written as the NCERT books and all the concepts are easy to understand. The writing is fluid and easy to follow.

The second most important thing is to ensure that first, the student should read the entire chapter at a glance as if it is a story. This gives the student a fair idea of what he is about to learn. Once that is done, then the student should patiently sit with the book and make notes. Handwritten notes go a long way in easy and quick revision.

Also one must bear in mind that writing notes by hand is a slow process, and while a student makes notes on paper, inadvertently the knowledge is registered in the brain. Not only is this important but it also prepares the student to write quickly without making mistakes. In this chapter, the student should ensure focus on the following topics

  • What is intermolecular force? How it affects the state of matter? What are the various kinds of forces that exist and what are their strengths?
  • What are the Gas laws? All the gas laws such as Boyle’s law, Gay Lusaac Law, Charles law, Avogadro law. The student should ensure that they follow all the important types of numerical problems that can be asked and ensure that they solve as many different kinds of them as possible.
  • Ideal gas equation, and how it impacts the gas laws. Solve as many numerical problems along with understanding the behavior of parameters with respect to each other by drawing graphs.
  • Kinetic molecular theory of gases-What is a real gas? What is an ideal gas? How do the real gas and ideal gas differ from each other? This should also include all the characteristic curves that are mentioned in the NCERT book. Do not miss any of them. Relate them with the equations and then the understanding of the curves becomes a lot easier.
  • What is the liquefaction of gases? Why is it important? The concept of liquid state and vapor pressure? What is surface tension? Examples of surface tension?

If a student is able to include the above-mentioned topics in his notes, then his notes on the chapter can be deemed to be complete. The student can also refer to other study materials from coaching institutes, and the study material provided by Doubtnut is a class apart. They are simple to understand and complete in all respects. The student should attempt as many mock tests as possible to ensure that he has mastered the concepts and is prepared for examinations.

Practice question: A gas in an open container is heated from 27°C to 127°C The fraction of the original amount of gas remaining in the container will be?