MCA Entrance : IIT JAM 2010

Posted by Nitin on April 29, 2010

Some Important Tips:

• You have to attempt 100 questions in 3 hours, so no such time pressure is there. Try to attempt easy & direct questions in first hour.
• Revise the important results/formulae as some of the questions simply require recalling the standard results.

• Here are some important concepts from which questions are most expected:

LPP, Eigen values/vectors, Simpson’s rule, Trapezoidal rule, Differential equations, Directional derivatives, Gradient, Change of variable/order in multiple integration, Probability distribution

• Never try random guess work as negative marking is 1/3^rd.
• Use elimination method/substitution method

For Example: Consider these questions from JAM 2009

Question 1:

The value of  3 + 1/[2 + (1/(2 + 1/2 .....))] is

(A) 2 – ^2                     (B) 3 – ^2             (C) 2 + ^2                   (D) 3 + ^2

Since the given expression will be greater than 3 but less than 4, so we can simply eliminate the options (A), (B) and (D). Hence answer is (C)

Question 2:

Consider n + 1 points, L₀, L₁, ….., L_n, along a straight line such that the distance between L_{k – 1} and L_k is k metres. Suppose one ball is placed at each location L₁, L₂, ….., L_n. A boy standing at L₀ has to pick up each ball and place them in a basket placed at L₀. If the boy cannot carry more than one ball at a time, the minimum distance that the boy travels to place all the balls in the basket is

(A) n (n + 1) metres                                   (B) n (n + 1)(2n + 1)/6  metres

(C) n (n + 1)(n + 2)/3 metres                  (D)  n (n + 1)(n + 2)/6 metres

You can simply take a particular value of n to answer this question, say 3.

So, required sum = 2 [1 + (1+ 2) + (1 + 2 + 3)] = 20

Only (C) gives same value for n = 3. Hence answer is (C).