Physics 12 syllabus

Unit 1: Waves and Optics (40 Teaching Hours)

Wave (23 Hours)

1. Wave Motion (4 Hours)

Wave Motion
Longitudinal and Transverse Waves
Progressive and Stationary Waves
Mathematical description of a wave.

2. Mechanical Waves (5 Hours)

Speed of Wave Motion
Velocity of Sound in Solid and Liquid
Velocity of Sound in Gas
Laplace's CorrectionEffect of Temperature, Pressure, Humidity on Velocity of Sound.

3. Waves in Pipes and Strings (6 Hours)

Stationary Waves in Closed and Open Pipes
Harmonics and Overtones in Closed and Open Organ Pipes
End Correction in Pipes
Resonance Tube Experiment
Velocity of Transverse Waves along a Stretched String
Vibration of String and Overtones
Laws of Vibration of Fixed String.

4. Acaustic Phenomena (8 Hours)

Sound Waves
Pressure Amplitude
Characteristics of Sound
Intensity
Loudness
Quality and Pitch
Beats
Doppler's Effect
Infrasonic and Ultrasonic Waves
Noise Pollution: Sources, Health Hazard and Control.

Physical Optics (17 Hours)

5. Nature and Propagation of Light (6 Hours)

Nature and Sources of Light
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Huygen's Principle
Reflection and Refraction According to Wave Theory
Velocity of Light
Foucault's Method
Michelson's Method.

6. Interference (4 Hours)

Phenomenon of Interference
Coherent Sources
Young's Two Slit Experiment
Newton's Ring.

Diffraction: (4 Hours)

Diffraction from a single slit / Diffraction pattern of image / Diffraction grating / Resolving power of optical instruments.

Polarization: (3 Hours)

Phenomenon of polarization / Brewster's law / transverse nature of light / Polaroid.

Unit 2: Electricity and Magnetism: (55 Teaching Hours)

Current Electricity: (20 Hours)

D.C. Circuit: (9 Hours)

Electric Currents / Drift velocity and its relation with current / Ohm's law/ Electrical Resistance / Resistivity / Conductivity / Super conductors / Perfect Conductors / Current – Voltage relations / Ohmic and Non- Ohmic resistance / Resistances in series and parallel / Potential Divider / Conversion of galvanometer into voltmeter and ammeter / Ohmmeter / Electromotive force / Emf of a source / Internal resistance / Work and power in electrical circuits / Joule's law and its verification.

Electrical circuits: (7 Hours)

Kirchhoff's laws / Wheatstone bridge circuit / P.O. Box / Meter Bridge / Potentiometer, Comparison of e.m.f's / measurement of internal resistance of a cell.

Thermoelectric Effect: (2 Hours)

Seebeck Effect / Thermocouples / Peltier Effect / Variation of thermoelectric emf with temperature / thermopile / Thomson effect.

Chemical Effect of Current: (2 Hours)

Faraday's laws of electrolysis / Faraday's constant / Verification of Faraday laws of electrolysis.

Magnetic Field of Current: (35 Hours)

Magnetic Field: (14 Hours)

Magnetic field lines and magnetic flux / Oersted's experiment / Force on moving charge / Force on Conductor / Force and Torque on rectangular coil / Moving coil galvanometer / Hall effect / Magnetic field of a moving charge / Biot and Savert law and its application to (i) a circular coil (ii) a long straight conductor (iii) a long solenoid / Ampere's law and its application to (i) a long straight conductor (ii) a straight solenoid (iii) a toroidal solenoid / Forces between two parallel conductors carrying current – definition of ampere.

Magnetic Properties of Materials: (5 Hours)

Elements of earth magnetism and their variation
Dip and Dip circle
Flux density in magnetic material
Relative permeability
Susceptibility
Hysteresis
Dia-, Para- and Ferro-magnetic materials.

Electromagnetic Induction: (8 Hours)

Faraday's laws / Induced electric fields / Lenz's law / Motional electromotive force / AC generators / eddy currents / Self - inductance and Mutual inductance / Energy stored in an inductor / Transformer.

Alternating Currents: (8 Hours)

Peak and RMS value of AC current and voltage / AC through resistor, capacitor and inductor / Phaser diagram / Series circuits containing combination of resistor, capacitor and inductor / series resonance / Quality factor / Power in AC circuits / Power factor / choke coil.

MODERN PHYSICS: (55 Teaching Hours)

Electrons and Protons: (10 Hours)

Electrons: Millikan's Oil drop experiment / Gaseous discharge at various pressure / Cathode rays / Motion of electron beam in electric and magnetic fields / Thomson's experiment to determine specific charge of electron / Protons: Quantum nature of radiation / Einstein's photoelectric equation / Stopping potential / Measurement of Plank's constant: Millikan's experiment

Solids and Semiconductor Devices: (11 Hours)

Structure of solids / Energy bands in solids (qualitative ideas only) / Difference between metals, inductors and semiconductors using band theory / Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors / P-N junction / Semiconductor diode / Characteristics in forward and reverse bias / Full wave rectification / Filter circuit / Zener diode / Transistor: Common emitter characteristics / Logic gates: NOT, OR, AND, NAND and NOR / Nanotechnology (Introductory idea)

Quantization of Energy: (9 Hours)

Bohr's theory of Hydrogen atom / Spectral series / Excitation and Ionization potentials / Energy level / Emission and absorption spectra / De Broglie theory: Duality / Uncertainty Principle / Lasers: He-Ne laser, Nature and production, properties and uses / X-rays: Nature and production: Uses: x-rays, x-rays diffraction / Bragg's law

Nuclear Physics: (6 Hours)

Nucleus: Discovery of nucleus / Nuclear density / Mass number / Atomic number / Atomic mass / Isotopes / Einstein's mass-energy relation / Mass defect / Binding energy / Fission and Fusion

Radioactivity: (7 Hours)

Alpha particles / Beta particles / Gamma rays / Laws of radioactive disintegration / Half-life and decay constant / Geiger-Muller Tube / Radio Carbon dating / Medical use of nuclear radiation / Health hazards and safety precautions

Nuclear Energy and Other Sources of Energy: (9 Hours)

Sources of energy / Conservation and degradation of energy / Transformation of energy / Nuclear energy / Energy released from fission and fusion / Thermal and hydroelectric power / Wind energy / Biofuels / Solar energy / Solar constant / Solar devices / Global energy consumption pattern and demands / Energy use in Nepal / Fuels and pollution / Global warming / Acid rain

Particle Physics and Cosmology: (3 Hours)

Particles and antiparticles / Quarks and Leptons / Baryons / Mesons / Universe-Hubble law / Big Band / Critical density / Dark matter