CBSE Class 11 Physics Syllabus

Physical World and Measurement: (Periods 10)

Physics - scope and excitement; nature of physical laws; Physics, technology and society.
Need for measurement: Units of measurement; systems of units; SI units, fundamental and derived units. Length, mass and time measurements; accuracy and precision of measuring instruments; significant figures.
Dimensions of physical quantities, dimensional analysis and its applications.

Kinematics: (Periods 30)

Frame of reference. Motion in a straight line: Position-time graph, speed and velocity.
Uniform and non-uniform motion, speed and velocity - average and instantaneous.
Uniformly accelerated motion, velocity-time graph and position-time graph, equations for uniformly accelerated motion (graphical treatment only).
Simple introduction to elementary concepts of differentiation and integration for describing motion.
Scalar and vector quantities: vectors, notation, equality of vectors, multiplication of vectors by a real number; addition and subtraction of vectors. Position and displacement vectors, relative velocity.
Unit vector; Resolution of a vector in a plane - rectangular components. Motion in a plane. Projectile motion, circular motion.

Laws of Motion: (Periods 16)

Concept of force. Inertia, Newton’s first law of motion; momentum and Newton’s second law of motion; impulse; Newton’s third law of motion. Law of conservation of linear momentum and its applications.
Equilibrium of concurrent forces. Static and kinetic friction, laws of friction, rolling friction.
Dynamics of uniform circular motion: Centripetal force, examples of circular motion (vehicle on level circular road, vehicle on banked road).

Work, Energy and Power: (Periods 16)

Scalar product of vectors. Work done by a constant force and a variable force; kinetic energy, work-energy theorem, power.
Potential energy, potential energy of a spring, conservative forces: conservation of mechanical energy (kinetic and potential energies); non-conservative forces: elastic collisions and elementary idea of inelastic collisions.

Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body: (Periods 18)

Centre of mass of a two-particle system, Centre of mass of rigid bodies. Momentum conservation and motion centre of mass.
Vector product of vectors; moment of a force, torque, angular momentum, conservation of angular momentum with some examples.
Equilibrium of rigid bodies, rigid body rotation and equations of rotational motion, comparison of linear and rotational motions.
Moment of inertia, radius of gyration. Moments of inertia for simple geometrical objects (no derivation). Only statement of parallel and perpendicular axes theorems and their applications.

Gravitation: (Periods 14)

Keplar’s laws of planetary motion. The universal law of gravitation.
Acceleration due to gravity and its variation with altitude and depth.
Gravitational potential energy; gravitational potential. Escape velocity. Orbital velocity of a satellite.
Geo-stationary satellites.

Properties of Bulk Matter: (Periods 28)

Elastic behaviour, Stress-strain relationship, Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus, bulk modulus, shear, modulus of rigidity.
Pressure due to a fluid column; Pascal’s law and its applications (hydraulic lift and hydraulic brakes). Effect of gravity on fluid pressure.
Viscosity, Stokes’ law, terminal velocity, Reynold’s number, streamline and turbulent flow. Bernoulli’s theorem and its applications.
Surface energy and surface tension, angle of contact, application of surface tension to drops, bubbles and capillary action.
Heat, temperature, thermal expansion; specific heat capacity - calorimetry; change of state - latent heat.
Heat transfer-conduction, convection and radiation, thermal conductivity, Newton’s law of cooling.

Thermodynamics: (Periods 12)

Thermal equilibrium and definition of temperature (zeroth law of thermodynamics). Heat, work and internal energy. First law of thermodynamics.
Second law of thermodynamics: reversible and irreversible processes. Heat engines and refrigerators.

Kinetic Theory of Gases: (Periods 8)

Equation of state of a perfect gas, work done on compressing a gas.
Kinetic theory of gases - assumptions, concept of pressure. Kinetic energy and temperature; rms speed of gas molecules; degrees of freedom, law of equipartition of energy (statement only) and application to specific heat capacities of gases; concept of mean free path, Avogadro’s number.

Oscillations and Waves: (Periods 28)

Periodic motion - period, frequency, displacement as a function of time. Periodic functions. Simple harmonic motion (S.H.M) and its equation; phase; oscillations of a spring–restoring force and force constant; energy in S.H.M. Kinetic and potential energies; simple pendulum– derivation of expression for its time period; free and forced (damped) oscillations (qualitative ideas only), resonance.
Wave motion. Transversal and longitudinal waves. Displacement relation for a progressive wave. Reflection of waves, principle of superposition of waves, standing waves in strings and organ pipes, fundamental mode and harmonics, Beats. Doppler effect.