Anil Ganti

KT’s are feared and dreaded by all. First year subjects like mechnics and BEE prove to be the undoing of the best of people. Being new to the art of engineering, people are bound to fail in these blockbusters of subjects. Here are some tips to clear those unwanted demons

Mechanics

The waterloo of the best of students, an unclered KT in this subject is bound to plauge you till the end of second year, if not cleared promptly. Being through one paper, you must have realised by now that theory is worth net to squat in a mechanics paper. So chuck all ideas of masteing theory and focus ONLY on numericals. The time tested “one sum a day” technique does work, so have no qualms in taking out around half an hour a day to solve a sum all by yourself.  The Centre Of Gravity and Moment Of Inetria chapters are relatively easy provided you master the calculator. As far as the statics section goes,  equilibrium and friction along with residual knowledge of teh rest is enough to get you through that area. In the dynamics section, basic kinematics and D’Alemberts principle should be enough to pass.

Engineering Drawing

This scourge of a subject is directly responsible for MANY students not seeing the light of the day for years on end. Deadlier than its Sem 1 counterpart mechanics, this is one subject that should not be trifled with. Professors further turn up the heat by throwing insanely tough problems at you and giving you the “This are the EASY ones, in the exams they’re worse”. This coupled with the Nazi like policies of “I want the lettering in block or else you die”  leave the best of them with broken spirits. May profs recommend the one orthographic projection sum a day technique as the path to salvation. I say that an entire sum can get too cumbersome and time consuming , one view a day will do perfectly fine. But make sure to complete the sum or else your drakting skills shall be left in shambles. Orthographic projection, Lines and solids are more than enough to get you through. Missing view and isometric can get tedious, so attempt those chapters only if you seek a good score in the paper. If all else fails and you blank out  in the paper, drawing the cube for the isometric and the three shapes for the solids fetch you residual marks, which could be intrrumental in getting you till the magic figure.

B.E.E

The other pain in the butt that plauges many prospective engineers is this subject. The weightage of chapters here is highly intermittent, so counting on previous years paper patterns will not be of much help. But one fool proof technique of owning this paper is mastering the entire A.C section which includes basic A.C and three phase supply. These alongwith transformers when mastered are enough to get you through any B.E.E paper. The D.C section, even though vast, cant be counted on solely for passing, so that along with semiconductors(a MUST do for electronocs and EXTC people) or D.C machines should be enough to get you a decent score. Make sure you master the integration and phaser related functions of the calculator, as they are not only essential, but also time saving elements in the paper.

Maths 1 and/or 2

Often the most underestimated subjects, KT’s in these subjects when stacked up DO lead to  a fiasco in later years. Like grandpa said it, the key to getting your math right is PRACTICE. Unlike mechanics, the one sum a day will not work here. You need at least 3 or 4 per day to get somewhere close to understanding math. Completing the whole syllabus isnt necessary, as mastery in a few essential topics should be enough. In math 1, the partial and sucessive diffrentiation bit along with one chapter of vectors is more than enough to let you glide through any paper. In math 2 beta-gamma is a MUST as it has loads of applications in the future. DUIis a relatively easy chapter and should be mastered for bonus marks. The differntial equation section isnt for the weak of haert, but theres no choice but to broach through it as it forms a major part of the syllabus. Overall, the key  to getting through math is simple, distributed workload throughout the sem rather than one night stands before the exams.

Applied Physics/Chemistry/C.S

First, these are by far the easiest subjects in the first year and even managing to get a KT in them is nothing short of stupidity. The key to getting through these subjects is simple, MUG UP till your brain can sustain no more. If you’ve failed, you havn’t mugged up enough. Period.