Physics Class 11 Syllabus 2025

Theory paper is of 70 marks and 3 hours duration. There are 14 chapters in the syllabus.

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Exam Structure

Unit Chapter / Topic Marks
I Physical World and Measurement 23
  Chapter 2: Units and Measurements
II Kinematics
  Chapter 3: Motion in a Straight Line
  Chapter 4: Motion in a Plane
III Laws of Motion
  Chapter 5: Laws of Motion
IV Work, Energy and Power 17
  Chapter 6: Work, Energy and Power
V Motion of System of Particles
  Chapter 7: System of Particles and Rotational Motion
VI Gravitation
  Chapter 8: Gravitation
VII Properties of Bulk Matter 20
  Chapter 9: Mechanical Properties of Solids
  Chapter 10: Mechanical Properties of Fluids
  Chapter 11: Thermal Properties of Matter
VIII Thermodynamics
  Chapter 12: Thermodynamics
IX Kinetic Theory of Gases
  Chapter 13: Kinetic Theory
X Oscillation & Waves 10
  Chapter 14: Oscillations
  Chapter 15: Waves
  Total 70

Unit I: Physical World and Measurement

Chapter 2: Units and Measurements

Need for measurement: Units of measurement; systems of units; SI units, fundamental and derived units. 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, Elementary concepts of differentiation and integration for describing motion, uniform and non-uniform motion, 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, 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, Energy 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: 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 Centre 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).

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.

Unit VII: Properties of Bulk Matter

Chapter 9: Mechanical Properties of Solids

Elasticity, Stress-strain relationship, Hooke's law, Young’s modulus, bulk modulus, shear modulus of rigidity (qualitative idea only), 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 simple 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.

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.

Second law of thermodynamics: gaseous state of matter, change of condition of gaseous state - isothermal, adiabatic, reversible, irreversible, and cyclic processes.

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: Oscillations and Waves

Chapter 14: Oscillations

Periodic motion - time period, frequency, displacement as a function of time, periodic functions and their application.

Simple harmonic motion (S.H.M) and its equations of motion; phase; oscillations of a loaded spring - restoring force and force constant; energy in S.H.M. Kinetic and potential energies; simple pendulum derivation of expression for its time period. 

Chapter 15: Waves

Wave motion: Transverse and longitudinal waves, speed of travelling wave, 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.