West Bengal Board Physics Syllabus for Class 12

Class 12 Physics Syllabus


Unit : 1 Physical World and Measurement

* Scope and excitement of physics
* Physics, technology and society, Fundamental forces in nature, Conservation laws, Examples of the gravitational force, Electromagnetic force and nuclear force from the experiences of day-to-day life ( only qualitative )
* Importance of measurement, Units of measurement, System of units, Sl system, Fundamental and derived units, Measurements of length, mass and time, Accuracy and precision of instruments used for measurements, Errors in measurement, Significant figures.
* Dimensions of physical quantities, Dimensional analysis and its applications.

Unit : 2 Kinematics

* Motion in straight line, Graph of position —> time, Equations of uniformly accelerated motion (graphical method)
* Uniformly accelerated motion, graphs of velocity time and position time, Equation of uniformly accelerated motion ( graphical method)
* Fundamental concept of differentiation and integration for presentation of motion.
* Scalar and vector quantities; position and displacement vectors, general vectors and their symbols, Equality of vectors, Multiplication of vectors by real number, Addition and subtraction of vectors, Unit vector, position vector, Resolution of vectors in a plane, Multiplication of vectors- The scalar and vector products, Vectors in three dimensions ( basic concept)
* Motion in a plane, cases of uniform velocity and uniform acceleration- projectile motion, Uniform circular motion.

Unit : 3 Laws of Motion

* Force and inertia, Newton’s first law of motion, momentum , Newton’s second law of motion, Impulse of force, Newton’s third law of motion, Law of conservation of momentum and its uses, Equilibrium of concurrent forces, Static and dynamic friction, Laws of friction, Rolling friction, Lubrication, Example of variable mass, Dynamics of uniform circular motion, Centripetal force, Examples of circular motion (Vehicle on a horizontal curved road, vehicle on a banked road Inertial and non-inertial frames of reference ( basic concept).

Unit : 4 Work, Energy and Power

* Work done by a constant and variable force , Kinetic energy, power, work-energy theorem.
* Concept of potential energy, The potential energy of a spring, Conservation of mechanical energy ( kinetic and potential energies Non – conservative forces, Elastic and Inelastic collisions in one and two dimensions.
* Various forms of energy in nature, The equivalence. of mass and energy (only qualitative idea)

Unit : 5 System of Practical and Motion of A Rigid Body.

* Centre of mass of a system of two particles and its generalisation for a system of n-particles, momentum, conservation and motion of centre of mass, Applications of some known systems, centre of mass of a rigid body.
* Moment of force, Torque, Angular momentum, Conservation of angular momentum (examples, motion of planets )
* Equilibrium of rigid bodies, Rotational motion of a rigid body and its equations.
* Conservation of linear and rotational -motion, Moment of inertia and its physical interpretation, Radius of gyration:, parallel and perpendicular axes theorem ( only statement without proof), Moment of inertia of a ring, a disc, a cylinder, a sphere and a thin straight rod, a cylinder rolling without sliding.
* Examples of binary system in nature (Binary stars, system of Earth and moon, diatomic molecules)

Unit : 6 Gravitation

* Universal law of gravitation, Universal gravitation constant, gravitational acceleration and changes in its value with altitude, depth, latitude and rotation of Earth, Mass of Earth.
* Gravitational potential energy near, the surface of the earth, Gravitational potential, Escape velocity, Orbital velocity of satellite, weightlessness, Motion of a satellite, Geostationary and polar satellites, Statements of Kepler’s law , Proofs of second and third law ( circular orbit), Inertial and gravitational mass.

Unit : 7 Mechanics of Solids and Fluids

* States of matter, Inter atomic and inter molecular forces,
* Solids
* Elastic behavior, relation between stress and strain, Hook’s law, Young’s modulus, Bulk modulus, Modulus of rigidity, Some applications in practice, 
* Fluids
* Pressure due to fluid column, Pascal’s law and its applications (Hydraulic lift and hydraulic brake), Effect of gravitational acceleration on pressure, Buoyancy Floatation, Archimedes’ principle.
* Stokes law, Terminal velocity, Laminar flow, Reynolds number, Bernoulli’s theorem and its applications.
* Surface energy and surface tension, Application of surface tension (1) in formation of drops and bubbles (2) in capillary action (3) in working of detergents.

Unit : 8 Heat and Thermodynamics

* Postulates of kinetic theory of gases, Concept of pressure, Kinetic energy and temperature, mean, r.m.s. and most probable speeds, degree of freedom, Law of equitation of energy ( only statement), Concept of mean free path, Avogadro number,
* Thermal equilibrium and temperature (zeroth law of thermodynamics), Heat, Work and internal energy, Thermal expansion, thermometry , First law of thermodynamics, Specific heat, Molar specific heat at constant volume and constant pressure ( for monoatimic and diaatomic gases ) (Dulong and petit law)
* Variables of thermodynamics and equation of state, phase diagram Ideal gas equation,Isothermal and adiabatic processes, Reversible and irreversible processes, Carnot’s engine and refrigerator or heat pump, Efficiency and coefficient of performance of heat engine.
* Only statement of second law of thermodynamics and some practical applications. Transmission of heat, Heat conduction, convection and radiation, thermal conductivity of solids, radiation emitted by -a completely black body, Kirchhoff s law, Wien’s displacement law, Steffen-Boltzmann law (only statement), Newton’s law of cooling, Solar constant and temperature of surface of Sun.

Unit : 9 Oscillations

* Periodic motion-periodic time, Frequency, Displacement as function of time and periodic functions, Simple harmonic motion and its equation, Phase, . Uniform circular ‘ motion and simple harmonic motion, Oscillation of a spring- restoring force and, force constant, Energy in simple harmonic motion- kinetic and potential energies, Simple pendulum, Derivation of equation of periodic time, Natural , damped , forced oscillations (only qualitative description), resonance, Coupled oscillations.

Unit : 10 Waves

* Transverse and longitudinal waves, Propagation of waves, Velocity of wave, Equation of displacement for a progressive wave, Principle of superposition, Reflection of waves, Stationary waves in a string and in a pipe, Normal modes of vibration, Beats, Doppler effect, Velocity of sound in a medium.