Physics Important Topic List

PHYSICS
General
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 - elasticity of the material, Surface tension of water
by capillary rise and effect of detergents. 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.
● 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. Forced and damped oscillation
(in one dimension), resonance. Linear and angular simple harmonic
motions.
● Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus.
● Law of gravitation; Gravitational potential and field; Acceleration due to
gravity; Kepler’s law, Geostationary orbits, Motion of planets and
satellites in circular orbits; Escape velocity.
● Pressure in a fluid; Pascal’s law; Buoyancy; Surface energy and surface
tension, angle of contact, drops, bubbles and capillary rise. Viscosity
(Poiseuille’s equation excluded), Modulus of rigidity and bulk modulus in
mechanics. 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); Second law of thermodynamics,
reversible and irreversible processes, Carnot engine and its efficiency;
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, LC and LCR (in series) circuits with d.c. and a.c.
sources.
Electromagnetic Waves
Electromagnetic waves and their characteristics. Electromagnetic spectrum
(radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays)
including elementary facts about their uses.
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.
● Diffraction due to a single slit. Polarization of light, plane polarized light;
Brewster's law, Polaroids.
Modern Physics
● Atomic nucleus; α, β and γ 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.

Physics Important Topic List

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PHYSICS

Electricity and Magnetism

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