JEE Main · Physics · Motion in a Plane
Relative Velocity: JEE Main previous year questions
12 questions in the 108 JEE Main shifts Lumi analysed, in 7 of 8 years. Pattern: Asked most years. 3 came in 2024–26. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.
- Questions
- 12
- in 12 of 108 shifts
- Years asked
- 7/8
- last asked 2026
- Weighted estimate
- 0.1
- model; history: 0.1 a shift on average, typically 0.0–0.1
Key findings
- 01
Asked in 7 of 8 years with analysed shifts and in 12 of 108 shifts: 12 questions, #173 of 196 topics.
- 02
83% of its questions since 2020 tested an idea no earlier year had asked; none repeated an idea from the year before.
- 03
The most repeated idea is Relative Motion in 1D, asked 3 times in 3 shifts (2020, 2024, 2026), most often as “relative velocity in 1d”.
- 04
JEE Main has asked 8 of the 57 ideas in this topic; 44 have never been asked, directly or inside another question.
- 05
Mostly asked as single correct (75%); 25% need a numerical answer, 67% are easy and 0% hard.
- 06
The skill tested most is calculation (67%), then application (17%).
Questions a shift, year by year
Out of the 25 Physics questions in a shift. Years differ in how many shifts Lumi analysed, so each year is scaled to one shift.
Raw count: 2017: 0 in 1 shift · 2020: 2 in 12 shifts · 2021: 4 in 24 shifts · 2022: 1 in 24 shifts · 2023: 2 in 12 shifts · 2024: 1 in 18 shifts · 2025: 1 in 8 shifts · 2026: 1 in 9 shifts.
- Up to 2023
- 0.1
- a shift, of 25
- Since 2024
- 0.1
- 0.0
- Usual gap
- 1.0 yrs
- between years asking it
- Shifts with it
- 12/108
- 11% of analysed shifts
How it is asked
Difficulty, format and skill
Across all 12 questions on Relative Velocity since 2017.
Difficulty
QUESTIONS- Easy8 · 67%
- Medium4 · 33%
- Hard0 · 0%
Format
SHARE- Single correct · 9 Q75%
- Numerical value · 3 Q25%
Skill tested
SHARE- Calculation · 8 Q67%
- Application · 2 Q17%
- Multi-step · 1 Q8%
- Conceptual · 1 Q8%
Repeats
New idea, or one asked before?
Each column is a year. Blue questions tested an idea no earlier year had asked; navy ones went back to an idea from an earlier year. 2017 is the first year, so everything in it counts as new. Heights are question counts, and Lumi analysed 1 to 24 shifts a year, so compare the split inside a column rather than heights across years.
- Idea asked for the first time
- Idea asked in an earlier year
Coverage of the topic
JEE Main has asked 8 of the 57 ideas in this topic. 44 have never been asked yet.
- Asked directly8 · 14%
- Touched inside another question5 · 9%
- Never asked44 · 77%
Ideas come from Lumi’s JEE syllabus map. A never-asked idea is not a safe skip: across all of JEE Main, 22% of questions since 2024 tested an idea no earlier year had asked.
Drill down
Chapter, idea, question
Every idea JEE Main tested in this topic, with its eight years. Open one to read the questions.
6 ideas inside
Squares are the 8 years with analysed shifts, 2017 to 2026. A number is the questions that year when there is more than one; the shade is scaled to one shift, so a year with more analysed shifts (1 to 24 a year) does not look darker. Share is of the level above.
Ideas
Every idea inside this topic
8 different ideas were tested; 3 came more than once.
relative velocity in 1d
Single correct · 3 shiftslength of train from relative speed
Single correct · 2 shiftsheading for zero drift in river
Numerical value · 2 shifts · 2 numericalriver width from crossing time
Single correct · 1 shiftrain speed relative to moving observer
Single correct · 1 shiftunknown velocity component for meeting particles
Numerical value · 1 shift · 1 numericaltrajectory shape seen from moving observer
Single correct · 1 shiftrain angle change with observer speed
Single correct · 1 shift
| Idea | Years asked | Times | Shifts | Format | Numerical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relative Motion in 1Drelative velocity in 1d | 3 | 3 | Single correctCalculation | – | |
| Extended Bodies Overtaking and Crossinglength of train from relative speed | 2 | 2 | Single correctCalculation | – | |
| River-Boat Drift Analysisheading for zero drift in river | 2 | 2 | Numerical valueApplication | 2 | |
| River-Boat Minimum Timeriver width from crossing time | 1 | 1 | Single correctCalculation | – | |
| Rain-Man Problemsrain speed relative to moving observer | 1 | 1 | Single correctApplication | – | |
| 2D Collision Conditionunknown velocity component for meeting particles | 1 | 1 | Numerical valueCalculation | 1 | |
| Observer-Dependent Trajectory Shapestrajectory shape seen from moving observer | 1 | 1 | Single correctConceptual | – | |
| Rain Angle Shift with Observer Accelerationrain angle change with observer speed | 1 | 1 | Single correctCalculation | – |
Times and shifts count every analysed shift. Across JEE Main, 78% of questions since 2024 went back to an idea an earlier year had asked; the rest were new. All repeated ideas
Every question
Relative Velocity questions, year by year
The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper, with the idea it tested. Open one for its options and the official answer.
JEE Main 20261 question in 1 shift
- 4 Apr, Shift 2Q27Two cars and are moving in the same direction along a straight line with speeds 100 km/h and 80 km/h, respectively such that car…
Idea: Relative Motion in 1D
MediumSingle correct
JEE Main 20251 question in 1 shift
- 2 Apr, Shift 1Q29A river is flowing from west to east direction with speed of . If a boat capable of moving at a maximum speed of…
Idea: River-Boat Minimum Time
New ideaEasySingle correct
JEE Main 20241 question in 1 shift
- 1 Feb, Shift 2Q32Train A is moving along two parallel rail tracks towards north with speed km/h and train B is moving towards south with speed …
Idea: Relative Motion in 1D
EasySingle correct
JEE Main 20232 questions in 2 shifts
- 13 Apr, Shift 1Q32Two trains 'A' and 'B' of length '' and '' are travelling into a tunnel of length 'L' in parallel tracks from opposite directions…
Idea: Extended Bodies Overtaking and Crossing
New ideaMediumSingle correct - 13 Apr, Shift 2Q33A passenger sitting in a train A moving at km/h observes another train B moving in the opposite direction for 8 s. If the velocity of…
Idea: Extended Bodies Overtaking and Crossing
New ideaEasySingle correct
JEE Main 20221 question in 1 shift
- 27 Jun, Shift 1Q32A girl standing on road holds her umbrella at with the vertical to keep the rain away. If she starts running without umbrella…
Idea: Rain-Man Problems
New ideaMediumSingle correct
JEE Main 20214 questions in 4 shifts
- 3 Aug, Shift 1Q26Two particles having position vectors and…
Idea: 2D Collision Condition
New ideaEasyNumerical value - 26 Aug, Shift 2Q5A bomb is dropped by a fighter plane flying horizontally. To an observer sitting in the plane, the trajectory of the bomb is a :
Idea: Observer-Dependent Trajectory Shapes
New ideaEasySingle correct - 16 Mar, Shift 2Q22A swimmer can swim with velocity of 12 km/h in still water. Water flowing in a river has velocity 6 km/h. The direction with respect to…
Idea: River-Boat Drift Analysis
New ideaEasyNumerical value - 18 Mar, Shift 1Q27A person is swimming with a speed of 10 m/s at an angle of 120° with the flow and reaches to a point directly opposite on the other side…
Idea: River-Boat Drift Analysis
New ideaEasyNumerical value
JEE Main 20202 questions in 2 shifts
- 2 Sep, Shift 1Q2Train A and train B are running on parallel tracks in the opposite directions with speeds of 36 km/hour and 72 km/hour, respectively. A…
Idea: Relative Motion in 1D
New ideaEasySingle correct - 6 Sep, Shift 2Q2When a car is at rest, its driver sees rain drops falling on it vertically. When driving the car with speed , he sees that rain drops…
Idea: Rain Angle Shift with Observer Acceleration
New ideaMediumSingle correct
Questions from the official JEE Main Paper 1 shifts published by NTA (CBSE for 2017). Questions NTA dropped are left out. Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.