Class 12 Physics Syllabus

Mechanics (24 hrs)

1. Rotational dynamics (10 hrs)

   1. Equation of angular motion, Relation between linear and angular kinematics.
   2. Kinetic energy of rotation of rigid body.
   3. Moment of inertia; Radius of gyration.
   4. Moment of inertia of a uniform rod.
   5. Torque and angular acceleration for a rigid body.
   6. Work and power in rotational motion.
   7. Angular momentum, conservation of angular momentum.

2. Periodic motion (8 hrs)

   1. Equation of simple harmonic motion (SHM).
   2. Energy in SHM.
   3. Application of SHM: vertical oscillation of mass suspended from coiled spring.
   4. Angular SHM, simple pendulum.
   5. Oscillatory motion: Damped oscillation, Forced oscillation and resonance.

3. Fluid statics (6 hrs)

   1. Fluid statics: Pressure in a fluid; Buoyancy.
   2. Surface tension: Theory of surface tension; Surface energy.
   3. Angle of contact, capillarity and its applications.
   4. Fluid Dynamics: Newton’s formula for viscosity in a liquid; Coefficient of viscosity.
   5. Poiseuille’s formula and its application.
   6. Stokes law and its applications.
   7. Equation of continuity and its applications.
   8. Bernoulli’s equation and its applications.

Heat and Thermodynamics (16 hrs)

4. First Law of Thermodynamics (8 hrs)

   1. Thermodynamic systems.
   2. Work done during volume change.
   3. Heat and work; Internal energy and First law of thermodynamics.
   4. Thermodynamic processes: Adiabatic, isochoric, isothermal and isobaric.
   5. Heat capacities of an ideal gas at constant pressure and volume and relation between them.
   6. Isothermal and Adiabatic processes for an ideal gas.

5. Second Law of Thermodynamics (8 hrs)

   1. Thermodynamic systems and direction of thermodynamic processes.
   2. Second law of thermodynamics.
   3. Heat engines.
   4. Internal combustion engines: Otto cycle, Diesel cycle; Carnot cycle.
   5. Refrigerator.
   6. Entropy and disorder (introduction only).

Waves & Optics (38 hrs)

6. Wave motion (6 hrs)

   1. Progressive waves.
   2. Mathematical description of a wave.
   3. Stationary waves.

7. Mechanical waves (4 hrs)

   1. Speed of wave motion; Velocity of sound in solid and liquid.
   2. Velocity of sound in gas.
   3. Laplace’s correction.
   4. Effect of temperature, pressure, humidity on velocity of sound.

8. Wave in pipes and strings (6 hrs)

   1. Stationary waves in closed and open pipes.
   2. Harmonics and overtones in closed and open organ pipes.
   3. End correction in pipes.
   4. Velocity of transverse waves along a stretched string.
   5. Vibration of string and overtones.
   6. Laws of vibration of fixed string.

9. Acoustic phenomena (5 hrs)

   1. Sound waves: Pressure amplitude.
   2. Characteristics of sound: Intensity; loudness, quality and pitch.
   3. Doppler’s effect.

10. Nature and propagation of light (4 hrs)

    1. Huygen’s principle.
    2. Reflection and Refraction according to wave theory.

11. Interference (5 hrs)

    1. Phenomenon of Interferences: Coherent sources.
    2. Young’s double slit experiment.

12. Diffraction (5 hrs)

    1. Diffraction from a single slit.
    2. Diffraction pattern of image; Diffraction grating.
    3. Resolving power of optical instruments.

13. Polarization (3 hrs)

    1. Phenomenon of polarization.
    2. Brewster’s law; transverse nature of light.
    3. Polaroid.

Electricity & Magnetism (41 hrs)

14. Electrical circuits (8 hrs)

    1. Kirchhoff’s law.
    2. Wheatstone bridge circuit; Meter bridge.
    3. Potentiometer: Comparison of e.m.f., measurement of internal resistances of a cell.
    4. Super conductors; Perfect conductors.
    5. Conversion of galvanometer into voltmeter and ammeter; Ohmmeter.
    6. Joule’s law.

15. Thermoelectric effects (2 hrs)

    1. Seebeck effect; Thermocouples.
    2. Peltier effect: Variation of thermoelectric e.m.f. with temperature; Thermopile.

16. Magnetic field (12 hrs)

    1. Magnetic field lines and magnetic flux; Oersted’s experiment.
    2. Force on moving charge; Force on a conductor.
    3. Force and Torque on rectangular coil, Moving coil galvanometer.
    4. Hall effect.
    5. Magnetic field of a moving charge.
    6. Biot and Savart law and its application.
    7. Ampere’s law and its applications.
    8. Force between two parallel conductors carrying current- definition of ampere.

17. Magnetic properties of materials (3 hrs)

    1. Magnetic field lines and magnetic flux.
    2. Flux density in magnetic material; Relative permeability; Susceptibility.
    3. Hysteresis.
    4. Dia,-para- and ferro-magnetic materials.

18. Electromagnetic Induction (8 hrs)

    1. Faraday’s laws; Induced electric fields.
    2. Lenz’s law, Motional electromotive force.
    3. A.C. generators; Eddy currents.
    4. Self-inductance and mutual inductance.
    5. Energy stored in an inductor.
    6. Transformer.

19. Alternating Currents (8 hrs)

    1. Peak and rms value of AC current and voltage.
    2. AC through a resistor, a capacitor and an inductor.
    3. Phasor diagram.
    4. Series circuits containing combination of resistance, capacitance and inductance.
    5. Series resonance, quality factor.
    6. Power in AC circuits: power factor.

Modern Physics (26 hrs)

20. Electrons (4 hrs)

    1. Milikan’s oil drop experiment.
    2. Motion of electron beam in electric and magnetic fields.
    3. Thomson’s experiment to determine specific charge of electrons.

21. Photons (4 hrs)

    1. Quantum nature of radiation.
    2. Einstein’s photoelectric equation; Stopping potential.
    3. Measurement of Plank’s constant.

22. Semiconductor devices (6 hrs)

    1. P-N Junction.
    2. Semiconductor diode: Characteristics in forward and reverse bias.
    3. Full wave rectification.
    4. Logic gates; NOT, OR, AND, NAND and NOR.

23. Quantization of energy (6 hrs)

    1. Bohr’s theory of hydrogen atom.
    2. Spectral series; Excitation and ionization potentials.
    3. Energy level; Emission and absorption spectra.
    4. De Broglie Theory; Duality.
    5. Uncertainly principle.
    6. X-rays: Nature and production; uses.
    7. X-rays diffraction, Bragg’s law.

24. Radioactivity and nuclear reaction (4 hrs)

    1. Alpha-particles; Beta-particles, Gamma rays.
    2. Laws of radioactive disintegration.
    3. Half-life, mean-life and decay constant.
    4. Geiger-Muller Tube.
    5. Carbon dating.
    6. Medical use of nuclear radiation and possible health hazard.

25. Recent trends in physics (2 hrs)

    1. Seismology: Surface waves, Internal waves, Wave patterns of Gorkha Earthquake 2015.
    2. Gravitational Wave, Nanotechnology, Higgs Boson.