UPSC Optional · 500 marks

Chemistry

Physical, inorganic, organic chemistry — concept-heavy scoring optional.

Five deep-dives: syllabus, booklist, paper analysis, strategy, PYQ trends (2021–2025).

What UPSC actually asked in Chemistry, 2021–2025

80 questions across 5 years, taken from the official papers. Every one has its own page with the directive word, marks, word limit and evaluation rubric.

Paper 1
40 questions · 2000 marks total
Paper 2
40 questions · 1970 marks total

Topics that came up

Organic synthesis and reaction mechanisms · Organic chemistry reaction mechanisms · Organic reaction mechanisms and stereochemistry · Organic reactions, spectroscopy, photochemistry · Physical and Inorganic Chemistry · Biochemistry and chemical kinetics · Bioinorganic chemistry and surface chemistry · Biomolecules, photochemistry, spectroscopy and organic reactions

Directive words used most

explain (36) · solve (12) · calculate (11) · derive (4) · draw (3) — see the directive words guide for how each one changes the answer you should write.

Mark distribution

79 questions at 50 marks · 1 questions at 20 marks

Browse all 80 Chemistry previous year questions →

Practice Chemistry answers, get AI feedback

Write an answer, upload it, and our evaluator scores it on content, structure, examples and directive-word fidelity — trained on UPSC-style marking.