Class 11 Physics Syllabus: Chapters, Marks and Practicals

CBSE class 11 physics syllabus: unit-wise marks

CBSE gives marks for each group of units, not for single chapters, so your school paper can vary the split within a group.

Chapters and topics, part 1

1. Units and Measurement: SI units, significant figures, errors in measurement, dimensions and dimensional analysis.
2. Motion in a Straight Line: position, speed and velocity, uniformly accelerated motion, position-time and velocity-time graphs, relations for uniform acceleration.
3. Motion in a Plane: scalars and vectors, vector addition and resolution, relative velocity, projectile motion, uniform circular motion.
4. Laws of Motion: inertia, Newton's three laws, momentum and impulse, conservation of momentum, static and kinetic friction, dynamics of circular motion including banked roads.
5. Work, Energy and Power: work by constant and variable forces, kinetic and potential energy, work-energy theorem, conservation of mechanical energy, power, collisions in one and two dimensions.
6. System of Particles and Rotational Motion: centre of mass, torque, angular momentum and its conservation, moment of inertia, radius of gyration, parallel and perpendicular axes theorems in statement form.
7. Gravitation: Kepler's laws, universal law of gravitation, acceleration due to gravity and its variation, potential energy, escape speed, orbital velocity of satellites.

Chapters and topics, part 2

• 8. Mechanical Properties of Solids: stress and strain, Hooke's law, Young's modulus, bulk and shear modulus, the stress-strain curve.
• 9. Mechanical Properties of Fluids: pressure, Pascal's law, viscosity, Stokes' law, terminal velocity, streamline flow, Bernoulli's theorem, surface tension and capillary rise.
• 10. Thermal Properties of Matter: heat and temperature, thermal expansion, specific heat, calorimetry, change of state, latent heat, conduction, convection and radiation.
• 11. Thermodynamics: thermal equilibrium and the zeroth law, heat, work and internal energy, first law, isothermal and adiabatic processes, second law, reversible and irreversible processes.
• 12. Kinetic Theory: equation of state of a perfect gas, assumptions of kinetic theory, pressure of a gas, kinetic interpretation of temperature, degrees of freedom, equipartition of energy, mean free path.
• 13. Oscillations: periodic motion, simple harmonic motion, energy in SHM, the spring and the simple pendulum.
• 14. Waves: transverse and longitudinal waves, speed of a wave, displacement relation, superposition, reflection, standing waves in strings and pipes, beats.

Practical exam scheme

You must perform at least 8 experiments, 4 from each section, and at least 6 activities, 3 from each section, through the year. Typical experiments include using a vernier caliper and screw gauge, finding g with a simple pendulum, Young's modulus by Searle's method, the coefficient of viscosity by terminal velocity and the speed of sound from a vibrating air column in a tube.

Which chapters to give the most time

• Laws of Motion and Rotational Motion: they carry many numerical questions and are the base of class 12 electrostatics and magnetism problems.
• Motion in a Plane: vectors appear across physics, so master resolution and projectile questions early.
• Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory: short chapters with direct derivations that score well.
• Oscillations and Waves: only 10 marks in school, but important for engineering and medical entrance tests such as those on the NEET physics syllabus page.

A month by month plan

A rough plan that fits most school calendars:

• April to June: chapters 1 to 4, with daily numericals from the NCERT exercises.
• July and August: chapters 5 to 7, plus the first four experiments.
• September: revision for the half yearly exam and the first activities.
• October to December: chapters 8 to 12 and the investigatory project.
• January: chapters 13 and 14, the remaining experiments and full revision.

Books and official sources

The NCERT Physics textbook in two parts is the official book, and the CBSE curriculum on cbseacademic.nic.in lists the units, the practical scheme and any topics that are not to be tested. The NCERT exemplar problems give harder practice once you finish the textbook exercises. Plan ahead with the CBSE class 12 physics syllabus, which builds on this year.