NSEA 2020 Exam Sample Paper

Ans: Firstly, you do not have to prepare for astronomy as a primary focus. IN fact, barely any question from pure astronomy is asked. Your preparation should revolve around Physics and Mathematics. That's all that matters. The thing is you should first study thoroughly for the NSEA. The NSEA Olympiad is quite in contrast from INAO, in terms of both pattern and the questions. You are already aware of the NSEA exam pattern described above. The questions that appear in NSEA are highly calculation based. Apart from the knowledge of topics, one must know how to make appropriate assumptions and approximations in questions.

Ans: INAO is where the exam’s seriousness gets real. For the INOA 2020 exam, you can expect 2 questions based entirely on astronomy. You can take reference from online resources. Most of the questions you will get will be almost always based on general knowledge, where elementary knowledge of astronomical phenomena and constellations is sufficient. We also recommend you going through star charts and learning to determine stars and constellations. The applicant must have knowledge of latitudes, longitudes as well as celestial spheres. Elliptical orbits, Tilt of earth, seasons, and properties will also help. Have a good understanding of all astronomical things including the planets and solar system given in grade 7, 8, 9, 10 geography textbooks. This will enable you to solve many questions easily. The INOA exam also requires thorough knowledge of mathematics, and you expect one purely mathematical question. However, all topics of physics mentioned for the NSEA exam are relevant to INOA with thorough and appropriate knowledge. Keep in mind that because it's an astronomy Olympiad doesn't mean it will only ask questions related to astronomy. Questions from general mathematics and physics are frequently asked in both INOA and NSEA. For INOA exam preparation, no knowledge of calculus is needed. Physics and mathematics alone can get you to the cutoff (around 60 for INAO).

Ans: Almost 10 questions in the Mathematics section will involve just mathematical calculations such as estimating (5¹²³⁴ - 1234²) [just random numbers] This will give you a fair idea of the type of questions. The probability topic in mathematics is very important.

Ans: You can anticipate enough questions from Optics since telescopes and optical instruments are cardinal to astronomy. The next most important topic in the physics section is Gravitation. You can expect almost all types of questions from here.  Thermodynamics, Mechanics (kinematics, collisions, Newton's laws, work energy power, the centre of mass, rigid body dynamics, relativity in order of importance), Heat transfer (particularly radiation), Waves and Electromagnetism (in order of importance) comes often too and were present in NSEA 2019. Rigid body dynamics, it seems, does not bear that much weightage in NSEA 2020 question paper. The questions from the NSEA physics are not difficult but are time-consuming due to lengthy calculations. Calculations are all that make the NSEA exam different from NSEP.