Trends
MHT-CET Physics, 2021 to 2025: what the 2025 paper moved, shift by shift
The 2025 papers weighted Physics differently, and the change is invisible unless you date your practice papers. Two chapters halved and one arrived. Everything below is measured across 42 papers and 2098 questions from 2021 to 2025.
- years analysed
- 5
- papers
- 42
- questions tagged
- 2098
- chapters tracked
- 24
Read this before you read a number on this page
MHT-CET is a multi-shift exam and the paper count per year is uneven — 2021 = 1 paper, 2022 = 1 paper, 2023 = 16 papers, 2024 = 11 papers, 2025 = 13 papers. A raw question count therefore means nothing across years: a chapter can carry more questions in a 16-paper year than in a 13-paper year while sitting at exactly the same weight per paper. Every comparable figure below is a questions-per-paper rate, and every window below names its own paper count.
The headline: two chapters halved, one arrived
This is the reason to read this page. Prep off 2023-24 papers alone and you give two questions of revision to chapters now worth one, then meet a chapter you have never seen set.
2.26 q/paper across 2023-2024 (27 papers), then 1.15 q/paper across the 13 papers of 2025. Still set every year — cut its hours, not the chapter.
2.19 q/paper across 2023-2024 (27 papers), then 1.08 q/paper across the 13 papers of 2025. Still set every year — cut its hours, not the chapter.
0 questions across the 29 papers before 2025, then 14 in the 13 papers of 2025. It has never produced a HARD question — a cheap chapter, but only if you have seen it before the hall.
Verified chapter drift
The 5 chapters with a story worth spelling out in words. The full grid for every chapter is two sections below, derived from the bank rather than estimated; this list is the narrative, and the grid is its receipt. Each window names its own paper count, because that is what makes the two rates comparable.
Gravitation
Softening- Earlier window — 2023-2024
- 2.26 q/paperquestions per paper
- 61 q over 27 papers
- Later window — 2025
- 1.15 q/paperquestions per paper
- 15 q over 13 papers
Lifetime: 80 questions · 23% HARD
Halved. A little over two questions a paper for two years, then about one across 2025. Still set in every year — trim its hours, keep variation of g.
Optics (Ray)
Softening- Earlier window — 2023-2024
- 2.19 q/paperquestions per paper
- 59 q over 27 papers
- Later window — 2025
- 1.08 q/paperquestions per paper
- 14 q over 13 papers
Lifetime: 78 questions · 29% HARD
Halved, the same way as Gravitation. At 29% HARD it was already one of the more expensive chapters per mark; it is now one of the least rewarding.
Units and Measurement
Entered the paper- Earlier window — before 2025
- 0.00 q/paperquestions per paper
- 0 q over 29 papers
- Later window — 2025
- 1.08 q/paperquestions per paper
- 14 q over 13 papers
Lifetime: 14 questions · 0% HARD
Onto the paper. Not a single question in the 29 papers before 2025, then 14 in the 13 papers of 2025 — and none of them HARD. Ten are error propagation.
Motion in a Plane
Rising- Earlier window — 2023-2024
- 1.00 q/paperquestions per paper
- 27 q over 27 papers
- Later window — 2025
- 1.54 q/paperquestions per paper
- 20 q over 13 papers
Lifetime: 53 questions · 6% HARD
Up by half, and it was already the cheapest mechanics chapter at 6% HARD.
Rotational Dynamics
Rising- Earlier window — 2023-2024
- 2.89 q/paperquestions per paper
- 78 q over 27 papers
- Later window — 2025
- 3.38 q/paperquestions per paper
- 44 q over 13 papers
Lifetime: 128 questions · 21% HARD
Up a sixth, to the second-heaviest chapter on the 2025 paper after Electrostatics.
Every rate on this list is recomputed from the grid below by a test, so the narrative cannot drift from the evidence after the next ingest.
What every chapter is worth, per paper
All 24 chapters across all 42 papers, as questions per paper. Every column is divided by its own year’s paper count, so the cells compare directly even though the years do not have the same number of papers. Read a row left-to-right to see a chapter gain or lose weight; read the bottom row to confirm each year still adds up to a whole paper.
| Chapter | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n=1 · | n=1 · | n=16 | n=11 | n=13 | |
| Electrostatics | 5.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 3.82 | 3.85 |
| AC Circuits | 2.00 | 3.00 | 3.25 | 2.91 | 3.08 |
| Semiconductor Devices | 4.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.09 | 3.08 |
| Rotational Dynamics | 4.00 | 2.00 | 2.94 | 2.82 | 3.38 |
| Mechanical Properties of Fluids | 3.00 | 3.00 | 2.94 | 3.00 | 2.92 |
| Superposition of Waves | 2.00 | 3.00 | 2.88 | 3.18 | 2.85 |
| Electromagnetic Induction | 1.00 | 3.00 | 2.81 | 3.09 | 2.77 |
| Wave Optics | 2.00 | 3.00 | 2.56 | 3.00 | 2.92 |
| Oscillations | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.69 | 2.45 | 2.77 |
| Magnetic Fields Due to Electric Current | 1.00 | 3.00 | 2.25 | 2.27 | 2.54 |
| Structure of Atoms and Nuclei | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.06 | 2.00 | 1.92 |
| Thermal Properties of Matter | 3.00 | 2.00 | 1.75 | 2.09 | 2.15 |
| Thermodynamics | 1.00 | 2.00 | 2.19 | 1.91 | 1.92 |
| Current Electricity | 2.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 1.92 |
| Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.94 | 1.91 | 2.15 |
| Gravitation | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.13 | 2.45 | 1.15 |
| Kinetic Theory of Gases | 2.00 | 2.00 | 1.81 | 2.00 | 1.92 |
| Optics (Ray) | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.31 | 2.00 | 1.08 |
| Motion in a Plane | 3.00 | 3.00 | 0.94 | 1.09 | 1.54 |
| Laws of Motion | 2.00 | 0.00 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 1.08 |
| Sound | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.25 | 0.91 | 1.15 |
| Magnetic Materials | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.75 | 0.82 | 0.77 |
| Units and Measurement | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.08 |
| Mechanical Properties of Solids | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.19 | 0.18 | 0.00 |
| Whole paper | 50.0 | 50.0 | 49.9 | 50.0 | 50.0 |
The greyed columns are 2021 and 2022 — one paper each. Their numbers are real, but one paper’s chapter mix is that paper, not the exam’s shape, so do not read a line through them. A 0.00 is a measured zero: the chapter was on no paper that year.
Every paper, every chapter
The rates above come from this: one column per real sitting, 42 of them, holding 2,098 questions. Raw counts do not compare across YEARS here, because the paper counts differ — but they compare perfectly across COLUMNS, because every column is a single paper of about 50 questions. The footer row proves it: each column sums to its paper’s own length. Hover a column number for its date and shift. Columns are papers by date and shift, not source files: a question re-dated to the paper it came from is counted in that paper.
| Chapter | '21 | '22 | '23 | '24 | '25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
| Electrostatics | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| AC Circuits | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Semiconductor Devices | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Rotational Dynamics | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Mechanical Properties of Fluids | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Superposition of Waves | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Electromagnetic Induction | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Wave Optics | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Oscillations | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Magnetic Fields Due to Electric Current | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Structure of Atoms and Nuclei | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Thermal Properties of Matter | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Thermodynamics | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Current Electricity | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Gravitation | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kinetic Theory of Gases | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Optics (Ray) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Motion in a Plane | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Laws of Motion | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Sound | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Magnetic Materials | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Units and Measurement | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mechanical Properties of Solids | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paper total | 50 | 50 | 50 | 49 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 49 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Columns are numbered within each year and ordered by exam date. 2 papers carry no date in our records and sit last in their year rather than at a guessed position; their tooltips say so.
%HARD by year — and why two of these years are not data points
Read the papers column first. 2021 and 2022 are one paper each (50 questions and 50 questions). A single paper’s difficulty split is noise, and those two years must not be read as the start of a trend line. The only readable run is 2023 → 2024 → 2025.
| Year | Papers | Questions | HARD count | % HARD | Reads as trend? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 50 | 14 | 28% | No — single paper |
| 2022 | 1 | 50 | 6 | 12% | No — single paper |
| 2023 | 16 | 798 | 160 | 20% | Yes |
| 2024 | 11 | 550 | 114 | 21% | Yes |
| 2025 | 13 | 650 | 88 | 14% | Yes |
The paper is not steadily hardening. Across the years with real paper counts it ran 2023 at 20%, then 2024 at 21%, then 2025 at 14% — it held at about a fifth HARD, then eased. Calibrating on 2023-24 alone over-prepares you for difficulty and under-prepares you for the 2025 chapter weights.
The 4 moves worth acting on
Each of these changes what you should be drilling this week, not just what you should know about the paper.
- Gravitation and Ray Optics both halved in 2025
Two chapters that ran above two questions a paper through 2023-24 fell to about one each across the 13 papers of 2025: Gravitation from 2.26 to 1.15, Ray Optics from 2.19 to 1.08. Neither is gone — both appeared in 2025 — so the move is to cut their prep hours, not to drop them. Gravitation keeps one page worth doing whatever else you cut: variation of g, 33 questions at 3% HARD.
- Units and Measurement entered — none before 2025, 14 in 2025
The chapter did not appear once in the 29 papers before 2025, and a student prepping only from 2023-24 papers has never seen it set. In 2025 it carried 14 questions across 13 papers, none of them HARD; ten are error propagation — how percentage errors add through a product, a quotient and a power. Half a day of prep for about a mark a paper.
- The paper eased in 2025 — 20% HARD (2023), 21% (2024), 14% (2025)
Ignore 2021 and 2022: one paper each, so their 28% and 12% are single-paper noise. Across the three years with real paper counts, Physics held at about a fifth HARD and then eased in 2025. Drill 2025 papers for scope — they carry the new chapter weights — and 2023-24 for depth.
- Mechanics is growing: Motion in a Plane up by half, Rotational Dynamics up a sixth
Motion in a Plane rose from 1.00 to 1.54 questions a paper, and it is the cheapest mechanics chapter at 6% HARD. Rotational Dynamics rose from 2.89 to 3.38, second only to Electrostatics on the 2025 paper. Both take the free-body and circular-motion methods of Laws of Motion, so the rise rewards getting that method secure.
Recommendation: drill 2025 for scope, 2023-24 for depth
The newest papers carry the weights you will actually sit — Units and Measurement in, Gravitation and Optics (Ray) halved — so they set your scope. The harder 2023-24 papers set your depth. Do both, in that order, and remember there is no negative marking in this paper: every question is worth attempting, so the only thing these trends change is what you practise and in what order, never whether you answer.