Why Inorganic deserves your attention
If you know the fact, most Inorganic questions take less than a minute; if you don't, there is no way to work them out. There is little calculation and little room for silly mistakes. For a student aiming at 99 percentile, Inorganic is where time is saved for the harder Physical and Organic questions.
Because it feels like memorisation, students keep putting it off. The method below builds it on understanding, with short, regular revision on top.
The chapters that matter
In the current NTA syllabus, the Inorganic portion is built around:
- Classification of elements and periodicity in properties
- Chemical bonding and molecular structure (shared with Physical Chemistry)
- p-block elements (groups 13 to 18): general trends and the unusual behaviour of the first element of each group
- d- and f-block elements
- Coordination compounds
- Principles of practical chemistry: detection of elements and salt analysis
NTA revised the JEE Main syllabus in 2024 and removed some chapters. Always check the syllabus in the current year's information bulletin.
A four-week plan
Plan on about 1.5 to 2 hours a day, alongside your regular Physics, Maths and Physical/Organic work.
| Week | Chapters | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Periodic properties, chemical bonding (VSEPR, hybridisation, MO theory) | Trends and exceptions you can explain in your own words |
| Week 2 | p-block: groups 13 to 18 | Trends in size, ionisation enthalpy, electronegativity and oxidation states; the unusual behaviour of the first element in each group |
| Week 3 | d- and f-block elements | Electronic configuration, oxidation states, colours and magnetic behaviour, lanthanoid contraction, KMnO4 and K2Cr2O7 |
| Week 4 | Coordination compounds, salt analysis, full revision | Nomenclature, isomerism, CFT; PYQs of all Inorganic chapters |
The method
1. Read NCERT line by line, with a pencil
Most JEE Main Inorganic questions can be traced to a sentence, a table or a figure in NCERT. (p-block is no longer a separate chapter in the rationalised NCERT books, so for it use your class notes and past JEE Main questions.) Read slowly, and underline every fact that could become a question, such as a colour, a shape, an exception or a trend that breaks.
2. Understand the trend first, then learn the exceptions
Before memorising anything, work out why bond angle falls down a group, or why the first element of each p-block group behaves differently. Once the reason is clear, only a few exceptions are left, and they are easy to remember.
3. Make your own one-page sheets
Make one page per group with the structures of oxides and oxoacids, the important reactions, colours and exceptions, and draw the structures yourself. These handwritten sheets are what you will revise from in the last week before the exam.
4. Revise in short, frequent rounds
Inorganic facts fade fast, and fifteen minutes of revision every day does more than three hours once a month. Revise each chapter again after 1 day, 1 week and 1 month.
5. Solve previous years' questions, chapter by chapter
After each chapter, solve all the JEE Main questions on it from the last five to seven years. You will soon see which facts NTA likes to ask about, and those are worth a second underline in NCERT.
Mistakes to avoid
- Reading from five reference books. Read NCERT, read it again, and then use one question bank.
- Leaving Inorganic for the last month, when it needs repeated revision spread over time.
- Skipping coordination compounds and chemical bonding because they "feel Physical", even though they are among the most asked topics.
Common questions
Is NCERT enough for Inorganic in JEE Main?
For JEE Main, NCERT read thoroughly plus previous years' questions covers the large majority of Inorganic questions. JEE Advanced needs more depth in some topics.
How many marks can Inorganic give in JEE Main?
It varies from paper to paper, but it is a meaningful share of the Chemistry section. The questions are quick, so they also leave more time for the rest of the paper.
Does this plan work for NEET Chemistry?
Yes. NEET Inorganic is tied even more closely to NCERT lines, so the same method works well there.