Explore: All GATE ME topics · GATE ME Fluid and Thermal Sciences PYQs · GATE ME hub · Syllabus & pattern · GATE ME 2026
Answer first
Heat Transfer PYQs (previous year questions) for GATE ME: Heat Transfer (Fluid and Thermal Sciences) had 43 questions across the 11 official GATE ME papers we tagged (2016–2026), and appeared in 11 of them. Asked in 11 of 11 years. The concepts asked in the most papers: Radiation, Forced Convection, Heat Exchangers.
Year-wise question count
Asked in 11 of 11 years.
| Year | Questions |
|---|---|
| GATE ME 2026 | 5 |
| GATE ME 2025 | 3 |
| GATE ME 2024 | 6 |
| GATE ME 2023 | 5 |
| GATE ME 2022 | 5 |
| GATE ME 2021 | 4 |
| GATE ME 2020 | 3 |
| GATE ME 2019 | 4 |
| GATE ME 2018 | 1 |
| GATE ME 2017 | 3 |
| GATE ME 2016 | 4 |
Most-asked concepts
Sorted by the number of papers a concept appeared in.
| Concept | Questions | Papers | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radiation | 9 | 9 | 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2017, 2016 |
| Forced Convection | 7 | 5 | 2025, 2024, 2023, 2020, 2019 |
| Conduction | 5 | 5 | 2024, 2023, 2020, 2019, 2018 |
| Heat Exchangers | 5 | 5 | 2026, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2017 |
| Natural Convection | 3 | 3 | 2026, 2025, 2022 |
| Conduction with Generation | 2 | 2 | 2024, 2022 |
| Critical Insulation Radius | 2 | 2 | 2021, 2016 |
| Fins | 2 | 2 | 2026, 2021 |
| Heat Generation | 2 | 2 | 2019, 2017 |
| Lumped Capacitance | 2 | 2 | 2026, 2023 |
| Combined Convection Radiation | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lumped Analysis | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Thermal Boundary Layer | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Transient Conduction | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
How to practise Heat Transfer PYQs
- Start with the concepts at the top of the table. They have come back the most.
- Solve one year’s Heat Transfer questions from the official PDF against the clock, then check the answer listed below.
- Log every miss as a concept gap, a calculation slip or a misread. Each needs a different fix.
- Once a concept is clean in two papers, move to the next. Then sit a full paper from the year pages.
Questions by year
Each line gives the question number, type, concept, our one-line summary and the official answer, with a link to the official PDF.
GATE ME2026
- Q.27 · MCQ · Natural Convection: Temperature relations from a convection velocity profile between plates (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.35 · NAT · Lumped Capacitance: Cooling time of a quenched small sphere (official answer: 24.50–26.00) PDF
- Q.43 · MCQ · Fins: Heat rate ratio of square and circular long fins (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.54 · NAT · Radiation: Overall radiation resistance with a reradiating surface (official answer: 2.50–2.60) PDF
- Q.55 · NAT · Heat Exchangers: Heat rate from convection and tube wall resistances (official answer: 49.5–51.5) PDF
GATE ME2025
- Q.15 · MCQ · Natural Convection: Direction of air flow around a cold ice sphere (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.48 · NAT · Radiation: Net radiation between base and side of a cylindrical furnace (official answer: 308–310) PDF
- Q.51 · NAT · Forced Convection: Tube length for a given rise in water temperature (official answer: 6.5–6.8) PDF
GATE ME2024
- Q.17 · MCQ · Conduction: Temperature profile in a slab with linearly varying conductivity (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · Forced Convection: Change in laminar flat-plate Nusselt number when velocity doubles (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.19 · MCQ · Forced Convection: True statement on thermally developed laminar pipe flow (official answer: Marks to all) PDF
- Q.48 · NAT · Conduction with Generation: Location of peak temperature in a slab with generation (official answer: 6) PDF
- Q.49 · NAT · Heat Exchangers: Effectiveness of a power plant condenser (official answer: 0.590–0.633) PDF
- Q.50 · NAT · Radiation: Radiation exchange between dome and base of a furnace (official answer: 2720–2740) PDF
GATE ME2023
- Q.21 · MCQ · Forced Convection: Dependence of Nusselt number in fully developed laminar tube flow (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.28 · MSQ · Conduction: Possible steady temperature profiles without heat generation (official answer: A, B) PDF
- Q.35 · NAT · Heat Exchangers: Heat transfer rate in a counter-flow exchanger from effectiveness (official answer: 9.999–10.001) PDF
- Q.43 · MCQ · Radiation: View factor of a cube's inner surface to itself with a rod inside (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.47 · MSQ · Lumped Capacitance: Cases where a lumped model suits a cooled metal plate (official answer: A, C) PDF
GATE ME2022
- Q.25 · MCQ · Natural Convection: Physical meaning of the buoyancy term in a momentum equation (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.35 · NAT · Radiation: Radiation equilibrium temperature of a sunlit cast iron plate (official answer: 210–225) PDF
- Q.45 · MCQ · Conduction with Generation: Mid-rod temperature when convection coefficient doubles (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.64 · NAT · Combined Convection Radiation: Inner surface temperature of a slab losing heat by convection and radiation (official answer: 315–323) PDF
- Q.65 · NAT · Heat Exchangers: Effectiveness of a blood-water counter-flow exchanger (official answer: 0.40–0.44) PDF
GATE ME2021
- Q.13 · MCQ · Transient Conduction: Parameters needed for Heisler chart centre temperature (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.14 · MCQ · Fins: Change in infinite fin heat rate when conductivity doubles (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.43 · NAT · Critical Insulation Radius: Thermal conductivity of PVC coating from temperatures (official answer: 0.10–0.12) PDF
- Q.44 · NAT · Radiation: View factor of a cube enclosure onto itself (official answer: 0.76–0.78) PDF
GATE ME2020
- Q.24 · NAT · Conduction: Insulation conductivity of a composite furnace wall (official answer: 0.5) PDF
- Q.50 · NAT · Radiation: Temperature from shift in peak wavelength (Wien law) (official answer: 2499–2501) PDF
- Q.51 · NAT · Forced Convection: Inner wall temperature at exit of a heated tube (official answer: 85.1–86.1) PDF
GATE ME2019
- Q.9 · MCQ · Forced Convection: Relation of Nusselt numbers for laminar pipe flow (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.11 · MCQ · Conduction: Effective conductivity of two rods joined in series (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.32 · MCQ · Forced Convection: Locations where pipe flow is thermally developed (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.47 · NAT · Heat Generation: Right face temperature of slabs with heat generation (official answer: 60) PDF
GATE ME2018
- Q.47 · NAT · Conduction: Surface temperature of a slab heated by convection (official answer: 33.50–34.30) PDF
GATE ME2017
- Q.10 · NAT · Heat Exchangers: LMTD for a condensing steam heat exchanger (official answer: 63.5–64) PDF
- Q.37 · NAT · Radiation: Radiation heat loss from one black surface to surroundings (official answer: Marks to all) PDF
- Q.38 · NAT · Heat Generation: Centre-to-surface temperature difference in a heated rod (official answer: 10) PDF
GATE ME2016
- Q.15 · MCQ · Critical Insulation Radius: Effect of plastic sleeve on heat loss from a wire (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.42 · NAT · Lumped Analysis: Time to cool a steel ball using lumped capacitance (official answer: 42.0–42.5) PDF
- Q.43 · NAT · Radiation: Net radiation exchange on one wall of a black furnace (official answer: 24528–24532) PDF
- Q.44 · NAT · Thermal Boundary Layer: Thermal boundary layer thickness on a flat plate (official answer: 5.90–6.25) PDF
Other Fluid and Thermal Sciences topics
FAQ
How many Heat Transfer questions come in GATE ME?
In the official papers we tagged: 5 in 2026, 3 in 2025, 6 in 2024, 5 in 2023, 5 in 2022, 4 in 2021, 3 in 2020, 4 in 2019, 1 in 2018, 3 in 2017 and 4 in 2016. That is 43 questions in all, about 26% of Fluid and Thermal Sciences.
Which Heat Transfer topics repeat in GATE ME?
Asked in the most papers: Radiation, Forced Convection, Heat Exchangers. The concept table lists every one with its count.
Are these official GATE ME questions?
Yes. Every question is from an official GATE ME paper hosted on our year pages. The one-line summaries are ours; open the PDF linked beside each question for the full text.