Physics Class 11 Syllabus

Course Structure
Unit

Chapter / Topic

Marks

Physical World & Measurement

II

Kinematics

III

Laws of Motion

IV

Work, Energy and Power

Motion of System of Particles

VI

Gravitation

VII

Properties of Bulk Matter

VIII

Thermodynamics

IX

Kinetic Theory of Gases

Oscillation & Waves

10

Total

70

23

17

20

Unit I: Physical World and Measurement

Physics - scope and excitement; nature of physical
laws; Physics, technology and society.
Need for measurement: Units of measurement;
systems of units; SI units, fundamental and
derived units.
Length,
mass
and
time
measurements;
accuracy
and
precision
of
measuring instruments; errors in measurement;
significant figures.

Dimensions of physical quantities, dimensional

analysis and its applications.
Unit II: Kinematics
Frame of reference, Motion in a straight line:
Position-time graph, speed and velocity.
Elementary concepts of differentiation and
integration for describing motion.Uniform and nonuniform motion, average speed and instantaneous
velocity.
Uniformly
accelerated
motion,
velocity time and position-time graphs.
Relations for uniformly
(graphical treatment).

accelerated

motion

Scalar and vector quantities; Position and

displacement vectors, general vectors and their
notations; equality of vectors, multiplication of
vectors by a real number; addition and subtraction
of vectors. Relative velocity. Unit vector; Resolution
of a vector in a plane - rectangular components.
Scalar and Vector product of vectors.
Motion in a plane.Cases of uniform velocity and
uniform
acceleration-projectile
motion.
Uniform circular motion.
Unit III: Laws of Motion
Intuitive concept of force. Inertia, Newton's first law
of motion; momentum and Newton's second law of
motion; impulse; Newton's third law of motion.

Law of conservation of linear momentum and its

applications.
Equilibrium of concurrent forces. Static and kinetic
friction, laws of friction, rolling friction, lubrication.
Dynamics of uniform circular motion: Centripetal
force, examples of circular motion (vehicle on
a level circular road, vehicle on banked road).
Unit IV: Work, Energy and Power
Work done by a constant force and a variable force;
kinetic energy, work-energy theorem, power.
Notion of potential energy, potential energy of a
spring,
conservative
forces:
conservation
of mechanical energy (kinetic and potential
energies); non-conservative forces: motion in a
vertical circle; elastic and inelastic collisions in one
and two dimensions.
Unit V: Motion of System of Particles and
Rigid Body
Centre of
momentum
motion.

mass of a two-particle system,

conservation and centre of mass

Centre of mass of a rigid body; centre of mass of a

uniform rod.
Moment of a force, torque, angular momentum,
laws of conservation of angular momentum and
its applications.

Equilibrium of rigid bodies, rigid body rotation and

equations of rotational motion, comparison
of linear and rotational motions.
Moment of inertia, radius of gyration.Values of
moments of inertia, for simple geometrical
objects (no derivation). Statement of parallel and
perpendicular
axes
theorems
and
their
applications.
Unit VI: Gravitation
Keplar's laws of planetary motion.The universal law
of gravitation.
Acceleration due to gravity and its variation with
altitude and depth.
Gravitational potential energy and gravitational
potential. Escape velocity. Orbital velocity of
a satellite. Geo-stationary satellites.
Unit VII: Properties of Bulk Matter
Elastic
behaviour,
Stress-strain
relationship,
Hooke's law, Young's modulus, bulk modulus,
shear modulus of rigidity, Poisson's ratio; elastic
energy.
Pressure due to a fluid column; Pascal's law and its
applications
(hydraulic
lift
and
hydraulic
brakes). Effect of gravity on fluid pressure.

Viscosity, Stokes' law, terminal velocity, streamline

and
turbulent
flow,
critical
velocity.Bernoulli's theorem and its applications.
Surface energy and surface tension, angle of
contact, excess of pressure across a curved
surface, application of surface tension ideas to
drops, bubbles and capillary rise.
Heat, temperature, thermal expansion; thermal
expansion
of
solids,
liquids
and
gases,
anomalous expansion of water; specific heat
capacity; Cp, Cv - calorimetry; change of state latent heat capacity.
Heat transfer-conduction, convection and radiation,
thermal
conductivity,
Qualitative
ideas
of Blackbody radiation, Wein's displacement Law,
Stefan's law, Green house effect.
Unit VIII: Thermodynamics
Thermal equilibrium and definition of temperature
(zeroth law of thermodynamics).Heat, work
and internal energy. First law of thermodynamics.
Isothermal and adiabatic processes.
Second law of thermodynamics: reversible and
irreversible
processes.
Heat
engine
and
refrigerator.
Unit IX: Behaviour of Perfect Gases and
Kinetic Theory of Gases

Equation of state of a perfect gas, work done in

compressing a gas.
Kinetic theory of gases - assumptions, concept of
pressure. Kinetic interpretation of temperature;
rms speed of gas molecules; degrees of freedom,
law of equi-partition of energy (statement only)
and application to specific heat capacities of gases;
concept of mean free path, Avogadro's number.
Unit X: Oscillations and Waves
Periodic motion - time period, frequency,
displacement as a function of time. Periodic
functions.
Simple harmonic motion (S.H.M) and its equation;
phase; oscillations of a spring-restoring force
and force constant; energy in S.H.M. Kinetic and
potential energies; simple pendulum derivation
of expression for its time period.
Free, forced and damped oscillations (qualitative
ideas only), resonance.
Wave motion. Transverse and longitudinal waves,
speed of wave motion. Displacement relation for
a progressive wave. Principle of superposition of
waves, reflection of waves, standing waves in
strings and organ pipes, fundamental mode and
harmonics, Beats, Doppler effect.

TIP TO CRACK CLASS 12th PHYSICS PAPER

On an average the paper will consist of 70% averagedifficulty questions, 15% high-difficulty questions and
remaining 15% easy questions.
Class 12 : Physics previous 5 years papers

Remember, there will be no HOTS this year as well, so

just 15% of questions are going to be difficult, giving you
the chance to prove your smartness in understanding the
concept of the subject. The remaining 85% of questions
will be easy and average, testing your planned average
study. So, do keep worries, stress and fear at bay.
As you know your physics (theory) paper is divided in 10
units with different weightages. Though questions can be
asked from any section of the syllabus, keeping time
availability in mind it would be wise to concentrate on
important theories, concepts, formulae and derivations. It
is equally important to draw the relevant graphs and
diagrams (schematic, circuit and Ray) to give the final
touch-up to your preparations. So, here it goes:
Unit
1:
Electrostatics
(08
marks)
Revise: SI units and dimensions of electric charge, field,
dipole moment, flux and charge densities, potential,
capacitance and polarisation. Drawing field lines and EPS
for dipole, two charge and single charge system.
Vector form of Coulombs Law. Gauss Theorem, electric
dipole, electric field lines and equipotential surface.
capacitor,
Van
de
Graff
Generator
Remember: Charge is scalar but the electric field created
by it is a vector, whereas the potential is again a scalar.
Electric flux is a scalar. A dipole experiences no force but
pure torque in uniform electric field whereas it does
experience a force and torque both in non-uniform field.
Gausss Law is valid only for closed surfaces. Three types
of charge densities viz linear, surface and volume are
different physical quantities having different unit and

dimensions. Along a field line, potential decreases at the

fastest rate. The dipole moment per unit volume is called
polarisation and is a vector. Whether its a solid or a hollow
conducting sphere, all free charges reside on its surface.
Dielectric constant is also called relative permittivity and is
dimensionless,
unitless.
Unit
2:Current
electricity (07
marks)
Revise : SI units and dimensions of mobility, resistance,
resistivity,conductivity, current density and emf. Ohms
Law , drift velocity, colour coding. Parallel/ series
combination of cells. Potentiometer. Numericals on finding
equivalent resistance/current using Kirchoffs laws
Remember:Current is scalar as it does not follow laws of
vector addition but current density is vector. Kirchoffs
junction/ loop law is charge/ energy conservation laws. If
the Galvanometer and cell are interchanged in balanced
Wheatstone bridge, the balance does not get affected. For
a steady current along a tapering conductor, current
remains constant but current density, drift speed and
electric field varies inversely as area of cross-section.
Ohms law is not universally applicable such as vacuum
diode,
semiconductor
diode.
Unit 3: Magnetic effects of current and magnetism:
(08
marks)
Revise : SI units and dimensions of permeability, relative
permeability, magnetic moment, field, flux, intensity,
susceptibility, torsional constant and their nature as vector
or scalars. Magnetic field lines. Biot-Savart and Amperes
law, solenoid, toroid, MCG, Cyclotron, para, dia and ferro

magnetism, permanent and electromagnets. Numericals

on
ammeter
and
voltmeters
Remember: Parallel currents attract and anti parallel
currents repel. Amperes law can be derived from BiotSavarts law. MCG has two sensitivities voltage and
current as deflection per unit voltage/ current, respectively.
Angle of dip is also called inclination, its value at poles and
at equator are 90 degrees and 0 degree, respectively.
Superconductors are perfect diamagnets. T(tesla) is SI
unit for magnetic field, the other being G(gauss,non-SI),1
T
is
equal
to
10,000
gauss.
Diamagnetism is universal - it is present in all materials.
Unit
4:
EMI
and
AC (08
marks
)
Revise : SI unit and dimensions of self and mutual
inductance,
capacitive
and
inductive
reactance,
impedance, Q-factor, power factor. Faradays/ Lenzs law,
eddy current, motional emf, self/ mutual inductance, AC
generator,
transformer
Remember: Lenzs law is consequence of energy
conservation. Eddy current has merits and demerits. AC is
scalar but follows phasor treatment as it is periodically
varying. At resonance power factor is 1, hence maximum
power is dissipated. A transformer works in AC but not in
DC. The power consumed in an AC circuit is never
negative. Rated values of ac devices for current and
voltages are rms whereas for power it is average. Higher
the Q-factor sharper the resonance, smaller the bandwidth
and
better
the
selectivity
Unit

5:

Electromagnetic

waves (03

marks)

Revise : Properties and frequencies, Ampere-Maxwell

law, displacement current, drawing of EMW. Numericals
on finding frequency, speed etc from given equation.
Remember : An oscillating charge produces EMW of the
frequency of oscillation. IR waves are also called heat
waves as they produce heating. The AM (amplitude
modulated) band is from 530 kHz to 1710 kHz. TV waves
range from 54 MHz to 890 MHz. The FM (frequency
modulated) radio band extends from 88 MHz to 108 MHz.
TV remote uses IR waves. LASIK and water purification
uses
UV
rays.
Unit
6:
Optics (14
marks)
Revise : Lens and Lens makers formula, magnifying and
resolving power, limit of resolution, Hygens principle and
polarisation, YDSE. Numericals on image location and its
nature
for
lens-mirror
combinations
Remember: Resolving power is inverse of limit of
resolution. Unpolarised light after passing through a
polaroid gets linearly polarised with half the intensity for
any orientation of the polaroid. Diffraction, interference and
polarisation prove the wave nature of light. Polarisation
proves the transverse nature of light. Compound
microscope has eyepiece of larger aperture and objective
smaller vice versa in a telescope. Reflecting telescope
removes chromatic and spherical aberration fairly. If the
source of light is white in YDSE the central fringe is white
and others are coloured in sequence from nearest red to
the
farthest
blue.
Unit 7: Dual nature of matter and radiation (04 marks)

Revise : Einsteins photoelectric equation and all the

graphs in the NCERT book. Davisson-Germer experiment.
Numericals based on de Broglies and photoelectric
equations.
Remember : de Broglie equation relates particle to wave.
Wave nature of electrons are used in electron microscope.
Photoelectric effect was explained using photon picture of
light.
Unit
08:
Atoms
and
nuclei
(06
marks)
Revise: Bohr model, scattering experiment. Radioactive
decay laws, BE and BE per nucleon, isotopes, isobars,
fusion
and
fission.
Remember: Rutherfords model of atom is called
planetary/nuclear model. The n value for first excited state
in Bohrs equation is 2 and not 1. Bohr model is only
applicable
to
hydrogen/hydrogen-like
atoms.
All
radioactive decay follows first order kinetics. Beta decay
corresponds to both plus/minus beta decay releasing
neutrino/antineutrino, respectively. Alpha decay increases
n/p ratio. Nuclear reactors use fission reaction for
producing powers. Source of energy in sun/stars is
nuclear
fusion.
Unit
9:
Electronic
devices
(07
marks)
Revise: Diode as full and half wave rectifier. Zener diode
as voltage regulator. Transistor as switch, amplifier,
oscillator,
Logic
gates.
Remember: The order of thickness of depletion layer is
one-tenth of a micrometre. Zener diode cannot regulate
AC. Si and GaAs are used in solar cells. Full wave

rectification doubles the frequency of the input whereas

half wave does not change. An oscillator uses positive
feedback. NAND and NOR gates are called universal
gates.
Unit 10: Communication system (05 marks)
Revise: Various frequncy range tables, need for
modulation, AM wave production and detection and
derivation of relation between radio horizon and antenna
height.
Remember: Mobile telephones operate typically in the
UHF range of frequencies (about 800-950MHz). In
modulation, some characteristics of the carrier signal like
amplitude, frequency, or phase varies. Space waves are
used for line-of-sight (LOS) communication as well as
satellite
communication.
Source: HT Education . The author, Krishna Deo
Pandey is Physics Expert.