Physics (PHYS)
5 units: Electrostatics, Current Electricity, Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism, Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Current, Electromagnetic Waves.
Detailed syllabus
Unit 1: Electrostatics (18 hours, 8 marks)
Electric charges and fields: conservation of charge, Coulomb's law, superposition, continuous charge distribution; electric field of a point charge, field lines; electric dipole, field of a dipole, torque on a dipole; electric flux, Gauss's theorem and its applications (infinite wire, infinite plane sheet, thin spherical shell). Electrostatic potential and capacitance: potential, potential difference, relation between field and potential, potential of a point charge, dipole and system of charges, equipotential surfaces, potential energy of charges and of a dipole; conductors and insulators, dielectrics and polarisation; capacitors, series and parallel combination, parallel-plate capacitor with and without dielectric, spherical capacitors, energy stored in a capacitor.
Unit 2: Current Electricity (16 hours, 8 marks)
Electric current, drift velocity, mobility; Ohm's law, resistance, resistivity and conductivity; V-I characteristics, temperature dependence of resistance; series, parallel and mixed grouping of resistances; internal resistance, emf, combination of cells; Kirchhoff's laws; Wheatstone bridge, metre bridge; potentiometer: comparison of emfs and internal resistance of a cell.
Unit 3: Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism (16 hours, 8 marks)
Moving charges and magnetic field: Oersted's experiment, Biot-Savart law, field of linear and circular conductors, Ampere's circuital law (long straight wire, solenoid), Lorentz force, cyclotron frequency, force on a current-carrying conductor, force between parallel currents and the ampere, torque on a current loop, moving coil galvanometer and its conversion into ammeter and voltmeter. Magnetism and matter: current loop as a magnetic dipole, field of a bar magnet along and perpendicular to its axis, torque on a dipole, field lines, permeability, susceptibility, magnetisation, retentivity and coercivity, hysteresis, earth's magnetic field, dia-, para- and ferromagnetic substances, electromagnets.
Unit 4: Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Current (15 hours, 8 marks)
Magnetic flux, Faraday's laws, induced emf and current, Lenz's law, eddy currents, self and mutual inductance. Alternating current: peak and RMS values, reactance and impedance, phasor diagrams, purely resistive, inductive and capacitive circuits, LR, CR and LCR series circuits, resonance, LC oscillations (qualitative), power and power factor, wattless current; AC generator and transformer.
Unit 5: Electromagnetic Waves (5 hours, 3 marks)
Displacement current, electromagnetic waves and their characteristics (qualitative), transverse nature, electromagnetic spectrum (radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays) and their uses.
Source: official document