Physics (PHYS)
5 units: Optics, Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter, Atoms and Nuclei, Electronic Devices, Communication System.
Detailed syllabus
Unit 1: Optics (25 hours, 14 marks)
Ray optics and optical instruments: reflection, spherical mirrors, mirror formula, refraction, total internal reflection, optical fibres, refraction at spherical surfaces, lenses, thin lens formula, lens-maker's formula, displacement method, magnification and power, combination of lenses and mirrors, refraction and dispersion through a prism, scattering of light; human eye and its defects; microscopes and astronomical telescopes. Wave optics: wavefront and Huygens' principle, interference, Young's double-slit experiment, coherent sources, fringe width, Fraunhofer diffraction at a single slit, resolving power, polarisation, Brewster's law, polaroids.
Unit 2: Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter (7 hours, 4 marks)
Dual nature of radiation, photoelectric effect, Hertz and Lenard's observations, Einstein's photoelectric equation, particle nature of light; matter waves, de Broglie relation.
Unit 3: Atoms and Nuclei (10 hours, 6 marks)
Alpha-particle scattering, Rutherford's model, Bohr model of hydrogen-like atoms, energy levels, hydrogen spectrum, X-rays (continuous and characteristic), Moseley's law. Composition and size of the nucleus, isotopes, isobars, isotones, radioactivity and decay law, mass-energy relation, mass defect, binding energy per nucleon, nuclear fission and fusion.
Unit 4: Electronic Devices (15 hours, 8 marks)
Thermionic emission, vacuum diode and triode (basic idea); energy bands in solids; intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors; p-n junction diode, forward and reverse bias, I-V characteristics; LED, photodiode, solar cell, Zener diode and voltage regulation; junction transistor (npn, pnp), transistor action and characteristics, CE amplifier, transistor as a switch; analogue and digital signals, binary numbers, logic gates (OR, AND, NOT, NAND, NOR) and their combinations.
Unit 5: Communication System (5 hours, 3 marks)
Elements of a communication system (block diagram), amplitude and frequency modulation, bandwidth of signals and transmission media, propagation of electromagnetic waves: sky wave and space wave (qualitative).
Source: official document