JEE Main · Physics · Waves
Resonance in Air Columns: JEE Main previous year questions
15 questions in the 108 JEE Main shifts Lumi analysed, in 6 of 8 years. Pattern: Asked most years. 5 came in 2024–26. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.
- Questions
- 15
- in 15 of 108 shifts
- Years asked
- 6/8
- last asked 2025
- Weighted estimate
- 0.1
- model; history: 0.1 a shift on average, typically 0.0–0.2
Key findings
- 01
Asked in 6 of 8 years with analysed shifts and in 15 of 108 shifts: 15 questions, #159 of 196 topics. Last asked in 2025.
- 02
60% of its questions since 2020 tested an idea no earlier year had asked; 6 repeated an idea from the year before.
- 03
The most repeated idea is Closed Organ Pipe Harmonics, asked 4 times in 4 shifts (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), most often as “water poured in closed organ pipe”.
- 04
JEE Main has asked 9 of the 58 ideas in this topic; 47 have never been asked, directly or inside another question.
- 05
Mostly asked as numerical value (73%); 73% need a numerical answer, 33% are easy and 7% hard.
- 06
The skill tested most is calculation (60%), then multi-step (33%).
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: 3 in 24 shifts · 2022: 3 in 24 shifts · 2023: 2 in 12 shifts · 2024: 4 in 18 shifts · 2025: 1 in 8 shifts · 2026: 0 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
- 15/108
- 14% of analysed shifts
How it is asked
Difficulty, format and skill
Across all 15 questions on Resonance in Air Columns since 2017.
Difficulty
QUESTIONS- Easy5 · 33%
- Medium9 · 60%
- Hard1 · 7%
Format
SHARE- Numerical value · 11 Q73%
- Single correct · 4 Q27%
Skill tested
SHARE- Calculation · 9 Q60%
- Multi-step · 5 Q33%
- Application · 1 Q7%
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 9 of the 58 ideas in this topic. 47 have never been asked yet.
- Asked directly9 · 16%
- Touched inside another question2 · 3%
- Never asked47 · 81%
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
Idea, year, question
Every idea JEE Main tested in this topic, with its eight years. Open one to read the questions.
- 30 Jan ’24 S1 · Q54In a closed organ pipe, the frequency of fundamental note is 30 Hz. A certain amount of water is now poured in the organ pipe so that the…
hardNumerical valueAsked the year before
- 12 Apr ’23 S1 · Q55For a certain organ pipe, the first three resonance frequencies are in the ratio of 1:3:5 respectively. If the frequency of fifth harmonic…
mediumNumerical valueAsked the year before
- 28 Jun ’22 S2 · Q57A tunning fork of frequency 340 Hz resonates in the fundamental mode with an air column of length 125 cm in a cylindrical tube closed at…
mediumNumerical valueAsked the year before
- 27 Aug ’21 S2 · Q25A tuning fork is vibrating at 250 Hz. The length of the shortest closed organ pipe that will resonate with the tuning fork will be…
easyNumerical valueNew idea
- 30 Jan ’24 S1 · Q54
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
9 different ideas were tested; 3 came more than once.
water poured in closed organ pipe
Numerical value · 4 shifts · 4 numericalclosed pipe length from open pipe overtone
Numerical value · 3 shifts · 2 numericalfirst resonance position with end correction
Single correct · 2 shiftsspeed of sound from beats of closed pipes
Single correct · 1 shiftfrequency ratio of closed and open pipe overtones
Numerical value · 1 shift · 1 numericalthird resonance length in resonance tube
Numerical value · 1 shift · 1 numericalopen pipe length from closed pipe
Numerical value · 1 shift · 1 numericalpipe length ratio at equal overtone frequency
Numerical value · 1 shift · 1 numericalharmonic frequency gap of open pipe
Numerical value · 1 shift · 1 numerical
| Idea | Years asked | Times | Shifts | Format | Numerical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed Organ Pipe Harmonicswater poured in closed organ pipe | 4 | 4 | Numerical valueCalculation | 4 | |
| Open Organ Pipe Harmonicsclosed pipe length from open pipe overtone | 3 | 3 | Numerical valueCalculation | 2 | |
| End Correction Conceptfirst resonance position with end correction | 2 | 2 | Single correctCalculation | – | |
| Beats Between Two Unequal Pipesspeed of sound from beats of closed pipes | 1 | 1 | Single correctCalculation | – | |
| Overtone to Harmonic Translationfrequency ratio of closed and open pipe overtones | 1 | 1 | Numerical valueMulti-step | 1 | |
| End Correction Calculation from Resonant Lengthsthird resonance length in resonance tube | 1 | 1 | Numerical valueCalculation | 1 | |
| Overlapping Resonances in Open and Closed Pipesopen pipe length from closed pipe | 1 | 1 | Numerical valueCalculation | 1 | |
| Harmonic Frequency Ratiospipe length ratio at equal overtone frequency | 1 | 1 | Numerical valueMulti-step | 1 | |
| Gas Composition Effect on Frequencyharmonic frequency gap of open pipe | 1 | 1 | Numerical valueMulti-step | 1 |
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
Resonance in Air Columns 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 20251 question in 1 shift
- 3 Apr, Shift 2Q35In the resonance experiment, two air columns (closed at one end) of 100 cm and 120 cm long, give 15 beats per second when each one is…
Idea: Beats Between Two Unequal Pipes
New ideaMediumSingle correct
JEE Main 20244 questions in 4 shifts
- 6 Apr, Shift 2Q51Two open organ pipes of lengths 60 cm and 90 cm resonate at and harmonics respectively. The difference of…
Idea: Open Organ Pipe Harmonics
Asked the year beforeEasyNumerical value - 8 Apr, Shift 1Q54A closed and an open organ pipe have same lengths. If the ratio of frequencies of their seventh overtones is …
Idea: Overtone to Harmonic Translation
New ideaMediumNumerical value - 30 Jan, Shift 1Q54In a closed organ pipe, the frequency of fundamental note is 30 Hz. A certain amount of water is now poured in the organ pipe so that the…
Idea: Closed Organ Pipe Harmonics
Asked the year beforeHardNumerical value - 31 Jan, Shift 1Q49The fundamental frequency of a closed organ pipe is equal to the first overtone frequency of an open organ pipe. If length of the open…
Idea: Open Organ Pipe Harmonics
Asked the year beforeEasySingle correct
JEE Main 20232 questions in 2 shifts
- 8 Apr, Shift 1Q51An organ pipe long is open at both ends. The speed of sound in air is . The frequency of the…
Idea: Open Organ Pipe Harmonics
New ideaEasyNumerical value - 12 Apr, Shift 1Q55For a certain organ pipe, the first three resonance frequencies are in the ratio of 1:3:5 respectively. If the frequency of fifth harmonic…
Idea: Closed Organ Pipe Harmonics
Asked the year beforeMediumNumerical value
JEE Main 20223 questions in 3 shifts
- 25 Jun, Shift 1Q55The first overtone frequency of an open organ pipe is equal to the fundamental frequency of a closed organ pipe. If the length of the…
Idea: Overlapping Resonances in Open and Closed Pipes
New ideaMediumNumerical value - 28 Jun, Shift 2Q57A tunning fork of frequency 340 Hz resonates in the fundamental mode with an air column of length 125 cm in a cylindrical tube closed at…
Idea: Closed Organ Pipe Harmonics
Asked the year beforeMediumNumerical value - 29 Jun, Shift 2Q53In an experiment to determine the velocity of sound in air at room temperature using a resonance tube, the first resonance is observed…
Idea: End Correction Calculation from Resonant Lengths
New ideaMediumNumerical value
JEE Main 20213 questions in 3 shifts
- 27 Aug, Shift 2Q25A tuning fork is vibrating at 250 Hz. The length of the shortest closed organ pipe that will resonate with the tuning fork will be…
Idea: Closed Organ Pipe Harmonics
New ideaEasyNumerical value - 25 Feb, Shift 1Q4A student is performing the experiment of resonance column. The diameter of the column tube is 6 cm. The frequency of the tuning fork is…
Idea: End Correction Concept
Asked the year beforeMediumSingle correct - 16 Mar, Shift 2Q30A closed organ pipe of length L and an open organ pipe contain gases of densities and respectively. The compressibility…
Idea: Harmonic Frequency Ratios
New ideaMediumNumerical value
JEE Main 20202 questions in 2 shifts
- 8 Jan, Shift 1Q23A one metre long (both ends open) organ pipe is kept in a gas that has double the density of air at STP. Assuming the speed of sound in…
Idea: Gas Composition Effect on Frequency
New ideaMediumNumerical value - 5 Sep, Shift 1Q20In a resonance tube experiment when the tube is filled with water up to a height of 17.0 cm from bottom, it resonates with a given tuning…
Idea: End Correction Concept
New ideaEasySingle 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.