Unit 1: General Physics

Units and Dimensions

• Units and dimensions, dimensional analysis.
• Least count and significant figures.

Experimental Analysis

• 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 the simple pendulum.
• Young’s modulus by Searle’s method.
• Specific heat of a liquid using calorimeter, the focal length of a concave mirror and a convex lens using the u-v method.
• The 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.

Unit 2 Mechanics

Kinematics

• Kinematics in one and two dimensions (Cartesian coordinates only), projectiles.
• Uniform Circular motion, relative velocity.

Newton’s laws of motion

• 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.

Gravitation

• Laws of gravitation.
• Gravitational potential and field, acceleration due to gravity.
• The motion of planets and satellites in circular orbits and escape velocity.

Inertia and Momentum

• Rigid body, the moment of inertia, parallel and perpendicular axes theorems, the 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.
• The collision of point masses with rigid bodies.

Harmonic motions

• Linear and angular simple harmonic motions.
• Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus.

The 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, the equation of continuity, Bernoulli’s theorem and its applications.

Waves

• Wave motion (plane waves only), longitudinal and transverse waves, superposition of waves.
• Progressive and stationary waves.
• The vibration of strings and air columns, Resonance, Beats.
• The 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 monatomic 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.

Unit 3 Electricity and magnetism

Electric Fields

• Coulomb’s law; Electric field and potential.
• The electrical potential energy of a system of point charges and of electrical dipoles in a uniform electrostatic field.
• Electric field lines; Flux of the electric field.
• Gauss’s law and its application in simple cases, such as, to find field due to the infinitely long straight wire, uniformly charged infinite plane sheet and uniformly charged thin spherical shell.

Capacitance

• Capacitance, Parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectrics.
• Capacitors in series and parallel, Energy stored in a capacitor.

Electric current

• Electric current; Ohm’s law; Series and parallel arrangements of resistances and cells.
• Kirchhoff’s laws and simple applications.
• Heating effect of current.

Magnetic Fields

• Biot Savart’s law and Ampere’s law.
• Magnetic field near a current-carrying straight wire, along with 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 field.
• The 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

• Electromagnetic induction, Faraday’s law, Lenz’s law.
• Self and mutual inductance.
• RC, LR and LC circuits with D.C. and A.C. sources.

Unit 4 Optics

Reflection and Refraction

• 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.

Unit 5 Modern Physics

Atoms and Nuclei

• Atomic nucleus; Alpha, beta and gamma 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.