JEE Main · Physics · System of Particles and Rotational Motion

Torque and Equilibrium: JEE Main previous year questions

Name: Torque and Equilibrium: JEE Main previous year questions
Creator: Lumi

23 questions in the 108 JEE Main shifts Lumi analysed, in 7 of 8 years. Pattern: Asked most years. 6 came in 2024–26. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.

Questions: 23; in 19 of 108 shifts
Years asked: 7/8; last asked 2025
Chance in a shift: 19%; calibrated model, how we compute it
Weighted estimate: 0.2; model; history: 0.3 a shift on average, typically 0.1–0.5

Key findings

01
Asked in 7 of 8 years with analysed shifts and in 19 of 108 shifts: 23 questions, #133 of 196 topics. The years that asked it were 1.3 apart on average. Last asked in 2025.
02
41% of its questions since 2020 tested an idea no earlier year had asked; 9 repeated an idea from the year before.
03
The most repeated idea is Torque Calculation, asked 7 times in 7 shifts (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), most often as “torque magnitude about a point”.
04
JEE Main has asked 10 of the 58 ideas in this topic; 44 have never been asked, directly or inside another question.
05
Mostly asked as numerical value (43%); 43% need a numerical answer, 39% are easy and 4% hard.
06
The skill tested most is multi-step (43%), then calculation (39%).

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: 1 in 1 shift · 2020: 4 in 12 shifts · 2021: 4 in 24 shifts · 2022: 6 in 24 shifts · 2023: 2 in 12 shifts · 2024: 2 in 18 shifts · 2025: 4 in 8 shifts · 2026: 0 in 9 shifts.

Up to 2023: 0.3; a shift, of 25
Since 2024: 0.2; -0.1
Usual gap: 1.3 yrs; between years asking it
Shifts with it: 19/108; 18% of analysed shifts

How it is asked

Difficulty, format and skill

Across all 23 questions on Torque and Equilibrium since 2017.

Difficulty

QUESTIONS

913

Easy9 · 39%
Medium13 · 57%
Hard1 · 4%

Format

Numerical value · 10 Q43%
Single correct · 8 Q35%
Diagram based · 5 Q22%

Skill tested

Multi-step · 10 Q43%
Calculation · 9 Q39%
Application · 4 Q17%

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.

’17’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Idea asked for the first time
Idea asked in an earlier year

Coverage of the topic

JEE Main has asked 10 of the 58 ideas in this topic. 44 have never been asked yet.

1044

Asked directly10 · 17%
Touched inside another question4 · 7%
Never asked44 · 76%

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.

ideaAskedShareYears’17’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

OpenRepeated7 · 30%30%5/822
- 9 Apr ’24 S1 · Q52
  A string is wrapped around the rim of a wheel of moment of inertia $0.40\ \mathrm{kgm^2}$ and radius $10$ cm. The wheel is free to rotate…
  easyNumerical valueAsked the year before
- 10 Apr ’23 S2 · Q53
  A force of $-P\hat{k}$ acts on the origin of the coordinate system. The torque about the point (2, -3) is $P(a\hat{i} + b\hat{j})$ . The…
  mediumNumerical valueAsked the year before
- 13 Apr ’23 S2 · Q52
  A light rope is wound around a hollow cylinder of mass 5 kg and radius 70 cm. The rope is pulled with a force of 52.5 N. The angular…
  mediumNumerical valueAsked the year before
- 29 Jul ’22 S2 · Q46
  The torque of a force $5\hat{i}+3\hat{j}-7\hat{k}$ about the origin is $\tau$ . If the force acts on a particle whose position vector is…
  easySingle correctAsked the year before
- 4 Aug ’21 S1 · Q19
  The moment of force $\overline{F}=2\hat{i}+\hat{j}+2\hat{k}$ acting at a point $-\hat{i}+2\hat{j}+\hat{k}$ about the point…
  easySingle correctAsked the year before
- 16 Mar ’21 S2 · Q24
  A force $\vec{F}=4\hat{i}+3\hat{j}+4\hat{k}$ is applied on an intersection point of $x=2$ plane and $x$ -axis. The magnitude of torque of…
  easyNumerical valueAsked the year before
- 5 Sep ’20 S1 · Q22
  A force $\vec{F} = (\hat{i} + 2\hat{j} + 3\hat{k})$ N acts at a point $(4\hat{i} + 3\hat{j} - \hat{k})$ m. Then the magnitude of torque…
  easyNumerical valueNew idea
OpenRepeated3 · 13%13%3/8
OpenRepeated2 · 9%9%2/8
OpenRepeated2 · 9%9%2/8
OpenRepeated2 · 9%9%2/8
OpenRepeated2 · 9%9%2/8
OpenRepeated2 · 9%9%2/8
Open1 · 4%4%1/8
Open1 · 4%4%1/8
Open1 · 4%4%1/8

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

10 different ideas were tested; 7 came more than once.

Torque Calculation7×
torque magnitude about a point
Numerical value · 7 shifts · 5 numerical
Torque of Tension on Pulleys3×
angular speed of massive pulley with two blocks
Diagram based · 3 shifts · 1 numerical
Lever Arm Method2×
moment of inertia from torque and angular acceleration
Numerical value · 2 shifts · 2 numerical
Torque about an Axis2×
rotational equilibrium of pivoted lamina
Single correct · 2 shifts
Work Done by Constant Torque2×
angular speed after cord unwound
Numerical value · 2 shifts · 1 numerical
Rotational Equilibrium2×
load shared by rod resting on ground
Diagram based · 2 shifts
3D Torque Components2×
torque vector from force and position
Diagram based · 2 shifts
Torque due to Buoyancy1×
unknown mass from torque balance with buoyancy
Numerical value · 1 shift · 1 numerical
Ladder Equilibrium Problems1×
ratio of reactions on ladder against smooth wall
Diagram based · 1 shift
Cylinder Over a Step Problem1×
minimum force to pull cylinder over step
Diagram based · 1 shift

Idea	Times	Shifts	Format	Numerical
Torque Calculationtorque magnitude about a point	7	7	Numerical valueCalculation	5
Torque of Tension on Pulleysangular speed of massive pulley with two blocks	3	3	Diagram basedMulti-step	1
Lever Arm Methodmoment of inertia from torque and angular acceleration	2	2	Numerical valueApplication	2
Torque about an Axisrotational equilibrium of pivoted lamina	2	2	Single correctApplication	–
Work Done by Constant Torqueangular speed after cord unwound	2	2	Numerical valueMulti-step	1
Rotational Equilibriumload shared by rod resting on ground	2	2	Diagram basedApplication	–
3D Torque Componentstorque vector from force and position	2	2	Diagram basedCalculation	–
Torque due to Buoyancyunknown mass from torque balance with buoyancy	1	1	Numerical valueMulti-step	1
Ladder Equilibrium Problemsratio of reactions on ladder against smooth wall	1	1	Diagram basedMulti-step	–
Cylinder Over a Step Problemminimum force to pull cylinder over step	1	1	Diagram basedMulti-step	–

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

Torque and Equilibrium 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.

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.

Key findings

Questions a shift, year by year

Difficulty, format and skill

Difficulty

Format

Skill tested

New idea, or one asked before?

Coverage of the topic

Idea, year, question

Every idea inside this topic

Torque and Equilibrium questions, year by year

JEE Main 20254 questions in 3 shifts

JEE Main 20242 questions in 1 shift

JEE Main 20232 questions in 2 shifts

JEE Main 20226 questions in 5 shifts

JEE Main 20214 questions in 4 shifts

JEE Main 20204 questions in 3 shifts

JEE Main 20171 question in 1 shift

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