CBSE SYLLABUS (2018-19)
Unit I: Physical World and Measurement
Chapter–1: Physical World
Physics-scope and excitement; nature of physical laws; Physics, technology and society.
Chapter–2: Units and Measurements
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; errors in measurement; significant figures.
Dimensions of physical quantities, dimensional analysis and its applications.
Unit II: Kinematics
Chapter–3: Motion in a Straight Line
Frame of reference, Motion in a straight line: Position-time graph, speed and velocity.
Elementary concepts of differentiation and integration for describing motion, uniform and non-uniform motion, average speed and instantaneous velocity, uniformly accelerated motion,
velocity - time and position-time graphs.
Relations for uniformly accelerated motion (graphical treatment).
Chapter–4: Motion in a Plane
Scalar and vector quantities; position and displacement vectors, general vectors and their
notations; equality of vectors, multiplication of vectors by a real number; addition and
subtraction of vectors, relative velocity, Unit vector; resolution of a vector in a plane,
rectangular components, Scalar and Vector product of vectors.
Motion in a plane, cases of uniform velocity and uniform acceleration-projectile motion,
uniform circular motion.
Unit III: Laws of Motion
Chapter–5: Laws of Motion
Intuitive 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,
lubrication.
Dynamics of uniform circular motion: Centripetal force, examples of circular motion (vehicle on
a level circular road, vehicle on a banked road).
Unit IV: Work, Energy, and Power
Chapter–6: Work, Engery and Power
Work done by a constant force and a variable force; kinetic energy, work-energy theorem, power.
Notion of potential energy, potential energy of a spring, conservative forces: conservation of
mechanical energy (kinetic and potential energies); non-conservative forces: motion in a
vertical circle; elastic and inelastic collisions in one and two dimensions.
Unit V: Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body
Chapter–7: System of Particles and Rotational Motion
Centre of mass of a two-particle system, momentum conservation and center of mass motion.
Centre of mass of a rigid body; centre of mass of a uniform rod.
Moment of a force, torque, angular momentum, law of conservation of angular momentum and
its applications.
Equilibrium of rigid bodies, rigid body rotation and equations of rotational motion, comparison
of linear and rotational motions.
Moment of inertia, radius of gyration, values of moments of inertia for simple geometrical
objects (no derivation). Statement of parallel and perpendicular axes theorems and their
applications.
Unit VI: Gravitation
Chapter–8: Gravitation
Kepler's laws of planetary motion, universal law of gravitation.
Acceleration due to gravity and its variation with altitude and depth.
Gravitational potential energy and gravitational potential, escape velocity, orbital velocity of a
satellite, Geo-stationary satellites.
Unit VII: Properties of Bulk Matter
Chapter–9: Mechanical Properties of Solids
Elastic behaviour, Stress-strain relationship, Hooke's law, Young's modulus, bulk modulus, shear
modulus of rigidity, Poisson's ratio; elastic energy.
Chapter–10: Mechanical Properties of Fluids
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, streamline and turbulent flow, critical velocity,
Bernoulli's theorem and its applications.
Surface energy and surface tension, angle of contact, excess of pressure across a curved
surface, application of surface tension ideas to drops, bubbles and capillary rise.
Chapter–11: Thermal Properties of Matter
Heat, temperature, thermal expansion; thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases,
anomalous expansion of water; specific heat capacity; Cp, Cv - calorimetry; change of state -
latent heat capacity.
Heat transfer-conduction, convection and radiation, thermal conductivity, qualitative ideas of
Blackbody radiation, Wein's displacement Law, Stefan's law, Greenhouse effect.
Unit VIII: Thermodynamics
Chapter–12: Thermodynamics
Thermal equilibrium and definition of temperature (zeroth law of thermodynamics), heat, work, and internal energy. First law of thermodynamics, isothermal and adiabatic processes.
Second law of thermodynamics: reversible and irreversible processes, Heat engine and
refrigerator.
Unit IX: Behaviour of Perfect Gases and Kinetic Theory of Gases
Chapter–13: Kinetic Theory
Equation of state of a perfect gas, work done in compressing a gas.
Kinetic theory of gases - assumptions, concept of pressure. Kinetic interpretation of
temperature; rms speed of gas molecules; degrees of freedom, law of equi-partition of energy
(statement only) and application to specific heat capacities of gases; concept of mean free
path, Avogadro's number.
Unit X: Mechanical Waves and Ray Optics
Chapter–14: Oscillations and Waves
Periodic motion - time period, frequency, displacement as a function of time, periodic functions.
Simple harmonic motion (S.H.M) and its equation; phase; oscillations of a loaded springrestoring force and force constant; energy in S.H.M. Kinetic and potential energies; simple
pendulum derivation of expression for its time period.
Free, forced and damped oscillations (qualitative ideas only), resonance.
Wave motion: Transverse and longitudinal waves, speed of wave motion, displacement relation
for a progressive wave, principle of superposition of waves, reflection of waves, standing waves
in strings and organ pipes, fundamental mode and harmonics, Beats, Doppler effect.
Chapter–15: RAY OPTICS: Reflection of light, spherical mirrors, mirror formula, refraction of light, total
internal reflection and its applications, optical fibres, refraction at spherical surfaces, lenses,
thin lens formula, lensmaker's formula, magnification, power of a lens, combination of thin
lenses in contact, refraction and dispersion of light through a prism.
Scattering of light - blue colour of sky and reddish apprearance of the sun at sunrise and sunset.
Optical instruments: Microscopes and astronomical telescopes (reflecting and refracting) and
their magnifying powers.
**Syllabus taken from cbse website.
