Physics syllabus

PHYSICS
General
Units and dimensions, dimensional analysis; least count, significant figures;
Methods of measurement and error analysis for physical quantities pertaining
to the following experiments: Experiments based on using Vernier calipers and
screw gauge (micrometer), Determination of g using simple pendulum, Young’s
modulus by Searle’s method, Specific heat of a liquid using calorimeter, focal
length of a concave mirror and a convex lens using u-v method, Speed of sound
using resonance column, Verification of Ohm’s law using voltmeter and
ammeter, and specific resistance of the material of a wire using meter bridge
and post office box.

Mechanics

Kinematics in one and two dimensions (Cartesian coordinates only),
projectiles; Uniform circular motion; Relative velocity.
Newton’s laws of motion; Inertial and uniformly accelerated frames of
reference; Static and dynamic friction; Kinetic and potential energy; Work and
power; Conservation of linear momentum and mechanical energy.


Systems of particles; Centre of mass and its motion; Impulse; Elastic and
inelastic collisions.
Law of
gravitation; Gravitational potential and field; Acceleration due to
gravity; Motion of planets and satellites in circular orbits; Escape velocity.
Rigid body, moment of inertia, parallel and perpendicular axes theorems,
moment of inertia of uniform bodies with simple geometrical shapes; Angular
momentum; Torque; Conservation of angular momentum; Dynamics of rigid
bodies with fixed axis of rotation; Rolling without slipping of rings, cylinders
and spheres; Equilibrium of rigid bodies; Collision of point masses with rigid
bodies.
Linear and angular simple harmonic motions.
Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus.
Pressure in a fluid; Pascal’s law; Buoyancy; Surface energy and surface tension,
capillary rise; Viscosity (Poiseuille’s equation excluded), Stoke’s law; Terminal
velocity, Streamline flow, equation of continuity, Bernoulli’s theorem and its
applications.
Wave motion (plane waves only), longitudinal and transverse waves,
superposition of waves; Progressive and stationary waves; Vibration of strings
and air columns; Resonance; Beats; Speed of sound in gases; Doppler effect (in
sound).

Thermal Physics



Thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases; Calorimetry, latent heat; Heat
conduction in one dimension; Elementary concepts of convection and
radiation; Newton’s law of cooling; Ideal gas laws; Specific heats (Cv
 and Cp for
monoatomic and diatomic gases); Isothermal and adiabatic processes, bulk
modulus of gases; Equivalence of heat and work; First law of thermodynamics
and its applications (only for ideal gases); Blackbody radiation: absorptive and
emissive powers; Kirchhoff’s law; Wien’s displacement law, Stefan’s law.
Electricity and magnetism
Coulomb’s law; Electric field and potential; Electrical potential energy of a
system of point charges and of electrical dipoles in a uniform electrostatic
field; Electric field lines; Flux of electric field; Gauss’s law and its application in
simple cases, such as, to find field due to infinitely long straight wire, uniformly
charged infinite plane sheet and uniformly charged thin spherical shell.
Capacitance; Parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectrics; Capacitors in
series and parallel; Energy stored in a capacitor.
Electric current; Ohm’s law; Series and parallel arrangements of resistances
and cells; Kirchhoff’s laws and simple applications; Heating effect of current.
Biot–Savart’s law and Ampere’s law; Magnetic field near a current-carrying
straight wire, along the axis of a circular coil and inside a long straight solenoid;
Force on a moving charge and on a current-carrying wire in a uniform magnetic

Magnetic moment of a current loop; Effect of a uniform magnetic field on a
current loop; Moving coil galvanometer, voltmeter, ammeter and their
conversions.
Electromagnetic induction: Faraday’s law, Lenz’s law; Self and mutual
inductance; RC, LR and LC circuits with d.c. and a.c. sources.
Optics
Rectilinear propagation of light; Reflection and refraction at plane and
spherical surfaces; Total internal reflection; Deviation and dispersion of light by
a prism; Thin lenses; Combinations of mirrors and thin lenses; Magnification.
Wave nature of light: Huygen’s principle, interference limited to Young’s
double-slit experiment.

Modern physics

Atomic nucleus; α, β and γ radiations; Law of radioactive decay; Decay
constant; Half-life and mean life; Binding energy and its calculation; Fission and
fusion processes; Energy calculation in these processes.
Photoelectric effect; Bohr’s theory of hydrogen-like atoms; Characteristic and
continuous X-rays, Moseley’s law; de Broglie wavelength of matter waves.