Senior Secondary stage of school education is a stage of transition from general education to discipline-based focus on curriculum. The present updated syllabus keeps in view the rigour and depth of disciplinary approach as well as the comprehension level of learners. Due care has also been taken that the syllabus is comparable to the international standards. Salient features of the syllabus include:
- Emphasis on basic conceptual understanding of the content.
- Emphasis on use of SI units, symbols, nomenclature of physical quantities and formulations as per international standards.
- Providing logical sequencing of units of the subject matter and proper placement of concepts with their linkage for better learning.
- Reducing the curriculum load by eliminating overlapping of concepts/content within the discipline and other disciplines.
- Promotion of process-skills, problem-solving abilities and applications of Physics concepts.
Besides, the syllabus also attempts to- Strengthen the concepts developed at the secondary stage to provide firm foundation for further learning in the subject.
- Expose the learners to different processes used in Physics-related industrial and technological applications.
- Develop process-skills and experimental, observational, manipulative, decision making and investigatory skills in the learners.
- Promote problem solving abilities and creative thinking in learners.
- Develop conceptual competence in the learners and make them realize and appreciate the interface of Physics with other disciplines.
COURSE STRUCTURE :
Unit No. Title Marks
I. Physical World and Measurement
Chapter - 1: Physical World
Chapter - 2: Units and Measurement
II. Kinematics 23
Chapter - 3: Motion in a Straight Line
Chapter - 4: Motion in a Plane
III. Laws of Motion
Chapter - 5: Laws of Motion
IV. Work, Energy and Power
Chapter -6: Work, Energy and Power
V. Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body 17
Chapter - 7: System of Particles and Rotational
Motion
VI. Gravitation
Chapter - 8: Gravitation
VII. Properties of Bulk Matter
Chapter - 9: Mechanical Properties of Solids
Chapter - 10: Mechanical Properties of Fluids
Chapter - 11: Thermal Properties of Matter
VIII. Thermodynamics 20
Chapter - 12: Thermodynamics
IX. Behaviour of Perfect Gases and Kinetic Theory
of Gases
Chapter - 13: Kinetic Theory
X. Oscillations and Waves
Chapter - 14: Oscillations 10
Chapter - 15: Waves
Unit I: Physical World and Measurement
Chapter–1: Physical World
Physics-scope and excitement; nature of physical laws; Physics, technology and society.
Chapter–2: Units and Measurements
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
Chapter–3: Motion in a Straight Line
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 non- uniform motion, average speed and instantaneous velocity, uniformly accelerated motion, velocity - time and position-time graphs.
Relations for uniformly accelerated motion (graphical treatment).
Chapter–4: Motion in a Plane
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
Chapter–5: 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 a banked road).
Unit IV: Work, Energy and Power
Chapter–6: 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); nonconservative 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
Chapter–7: System of Particles and Rotational Motion
Centre of mass of a two-particle system, momentum conservation and centre of mass motion. Centre of mass of a rigid body; centre of mass of a uniform rod.
Moment of a force, torque, angular momentum, law 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
Chapter–8: Gravitation
Kepler's laws of planetary motion, 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
Chapter–9: Mechanical Properties of Solids
Elastic behaviour, Stress-strain relationship, Hooke's law, Young's modulus, bulk modulus, shear modulus of rigidity, Poisson's ratio; elastic energy.
Chapter–10: Mechanical Properties of Fluids
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.
Chapter–11: Thermal Properties of Matter
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, Greenhouse effect.
Unit VIII: Thermodynamics
Chapter–12: 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
Chapter–13: Kinetic Theory
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
Chapter–14: Oscillations
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 loaded 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.
Chapter–15: Waves
Wave motion: Transverse and longitudinal waves, speed of travelling wave, 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.