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 field.
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; 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 hydrogenlike atoms; Characteristic and continuous Xrays, Moseley’s law; de
Broglie wavelength of
matter waves
