Being a member of the Indian Armed Forces is a prestigious status in the country. The Union Public Service Commission conducts the Combined Defence Services Exam, also known as the CDS exam, twice a year on an all-India level (UPSC). The exam acts as a screening process for the induction of graduate candidates to the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Officers Training Academy (OTA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), and Indian Air Force Academy (IAF).
The exam is conducted in two stages i.e., written exam and SSB Interview. The IMA, INA, and AFA written exams are divided into three sections: English, General Knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics. The OTA admissions test is divided into two sections: English and General Knowledge.
To crack the CDS written exam for IMA, INA, and AFA you must be able to score well in the mathematics section. You must be thorough with important mathematics topics and have a well-thought-out plan for preparation.
Around 18 to 20 questions, carrying one mark each can be expected from the geometry part in the mathematics section. Thus, Geometry in the Combined Defence Services exam has a significant weightage out of the total 100 marks in the Maths section, and it is necessary to have a thorough preparation of Geometry for the CDS and other defence exams.
On that note, let’s go over some of the most significant concepts, as well as some helpful tips for acing geometry questions in the CDS exam.
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Important Geometry Sub-Topics For Defence Exams
The following subtopics in geometry are covered in the mathematics section.
Coordinate Geometry
Distance formulas, section formulas, line equations, points forming triangles, and their areas are just a few of the things you should focus on when studying Coordinate Geometry for any defence exam.
Angles
Understand the several sorts of angles, such as vertical, complementary, and supplementary angles, as well as the angles formed by intersecting lines.
Parallel Lines & Transversals
In competitive exams, questions about parallel lines and transversals are frequently posed. A transversal is a line segment that intersects two or more lines and forms a few pairs of angles such as matching angles, alternate interior angles, and more when intersecting two parallel lines. To locate the missing angle or spot the problem, you must be comprehensive with the characteristics and angles.
Polygons
Triangles, four-sided shapes (quadrilaterals), comprising squares, parallelograms, rectangles, and more, are closed figures having three or more straight lines. You should not only be familiar with their properties but also how to apply them to questions.
Circles
A circle is a curve figure, and questions about circles are prominent in defence exams such as the CDS. Questions revolving around parts and properties of circle like Tangent, Secant, Arc, Sector and Chord of a Circle.
Tips to Solve Geometry Questions
- Up to and including the decagon, you should be familiar with all geometrical figures.
- On a daily basis, write down and practise all of the geometry formulas with examples.
- Solve questions about geometry from a variety of previous defence exam materials.
- Basic concepts to understand include angles, dimensions, parallel lines, transversal, and form geometry.
- For defence tests, write down all of the important geometry notes, such as the Pythagoras theorem, Heron’s theorem, and others.
- Go through the basic parts and properties which involve radius, chord, diameter, Centre of a Circle before going onto advanced Circle concepts.
Importance of Geometry in Defence Exams
- Exams based on the geometry syllabus are used to evaluate a candidate’s analytical and reasoning abilities.
- Geometry accounts for up to 5% of the total questions on the mathematics paper.
- For all candidates taking the CDS tests, mathematics is a required subject.
- Coordinate geometry is an important topic of the exam with a high grade.