CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2027: Unit-wise Chapters & Marks

Unit

Chapters

Marks

Unit I – Electrostatics

• Chapter 1: Electric Charges and Fields
• Chapter 2: Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance

16

Unit II – Current Electricity

Chapter 3: Current Electricity

Unit III – Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism

• Chapter 4: Moving Charges and Magnetism
• Chapter 5: Magnetism and Matter

17

Unit IV – Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents

• Chapter 6: Electromagnetic Induction
• Chapter 7: Alternating Current

Unit V – Electromagnetic Waves

Chapter 8: Electromagnetic Waves

18

Unit VI – Optics

• Chapter 9: Ray Optics and Optical Instruments
• Chapter 10: Wave Optics

Unit VII – Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter

Chapter 11: Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter

12

Unit VIII – Atoms and Nuclei

• Chapter 12: Atoms
• Chapter 13: Nuclei

Unit IX – Electronic Devices

Chapter 14: Semiconductor Electronics: Materials, Devices and Simple Circuits

7

Total

14 chapters

70

Unit

Chapter

Detailed Syllabus

Unit I – Electrostatics

Chapter 1: Electric Charges and Fields

Electric charges and conservation of charge; Coulomb's law; force between two point charges; forces between multiple charges; superposition principle; continuous charge distribution; electric field and field due to a point charge; electric field lines; electric dipole; electric field due to a dipole; torque on a dipole in a uniform electric field; electric flux; Gauss's theorem and applications to an infinitely long straight wire, uniformly charged infinite plane sheet and uniformly charged thin spherical shell.

Chapter 2: Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance

Electric potential and potential difference; potential due to point charge, dipole and system of charges; equipotential surfaces; electrical potential energy of two-point charges and an electric dipole; conductors and insulators; free and bound charges; dielectrics and polarization; capacitors and capacitance; series and parallel combinations; parallel-plate capacitor with and without dielectric; energy stored in a capacitor, with formulae only and no derivation.

Unit II – Current Electricity

Chapter 3: Current Electricity

Electric current and flow of charge in metallic conductors; drift velocity and mobility; relation with electric current; Ohm's law; linear and non-linear V-I characteristics; electrical energy and power; resistivity and conductivity; temperature dependence of resistance; internal resistance of a cell; potential difference and emf; series and parallel combinations of cells; Kirchhoff's rules; Wheatstone bridge.

Unit III – Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism

Chapter 4: Moving Charges and Magnetism

Magnetic field; Oersted's experiment; Biot-Savart law and circular current-carrying loop; Ampere's law and infinitely long straight wire; straight solenoid, qualitative treatment; force on moving charge in uniform magnetic and electric fields; force on current-carrying conductor; force between parallel current-carrying conductors; definition of ampere; torque on current loop; current loop as magnetic dipole; magnetic dipole moment; moving coil galvanometer, current sensitivity and conversion into ammeter and voltmeter.

Chapter 5: Magnetism and Matter

Bar magnet; bar magnet as equivalent solenoid, qualitative treatment; magnetic field intensity due to a magnetic dipole along axial and perpendicular positions, qualitative treatment; torque on magnetic dipole in uniform magnetic field, qualitative treatment; magnetic field lines; paramagnetic, diamagnetic and ferromagnetic substances with examples; magnetization; effect of temperature on magnetic properties.

Unit IV – Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents

Chapter 6: Electromagnetic Induction

Electromagnetic induction; Faraday's laws; induced emf and current; Lenz's law; self-induction and mutual induction.

Chapter 7: Alternating Current

Alternating current; peak and RMS values of AC current and voltage; reactance and impedance; LCR series circuit using phasors; resonance; power in AC circuits; power factor; wattless current; AC generator; transformer.

Unit V – Electromagnetic Waves

Chapter 8: Electromagnetic Waves

Basic idea of displacement current; electromagnetic waves and their characteristics; transverse nature of electromagnetic waves, qualitative treatment; electromagnetic spectrum covering radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, along with elementary facts about their uses.

Unit VI – Optics

Chapter 9: Ray Optics and Optical Instruments

Reflection of light; spherical mirrors; mirror formula; refraction; total internal reflection and optical fibres; refraction at spherical surfaces; lenses; thin lens formula; lens maker's formula; magnification; power of lens; combination of thin lenses in contact; refraction through prism; microscopes and astronomical telescopes, including reflecting and refracting telescopes and their magnifying powers.

Chapter 10: Wave Optics

Wavefront and Huygens' principle; reflection and refraction of plane waves using wave fronts; proof of laws of reflection and refraction using Huygens ' principle; interference; Young's double-slit experiment; fringe width expression, final expression only; coherent sources and sustained interference; single-slit diffraction and width of central maximum, qualitative treatment.

Unit VII – Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter

Chapter 11: Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter

Dual nature of radiation; photoelectric effect; Hertz and Lenard's observations; Einstein's photoelectric equation and particle nature of light; experimental study of photoelectric effect; matter waves; wave nature of particles; de Broglie relation.

Unit VIII – Atoms and Nuclei

Chapter 12: Atoms

Alpha-particle scattering experiment; Rutherford's model; Bohr model of hydrogen atom; expression for radius of nth possible orbit, velocity and energy of electron; hydrogen line spectra, qualitative treatment.

Chapter 13: Nuclei

Composition and size of nucleus; nuclear force; mass-energy relation; mass defect; binding energy per nucleon and its variation with mass number; nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

Unit IX – Electronic Devices

Chapter 14: Semiconductor Electronics: Materials, Devices and Simple Circuits

Energy bands in conductors, semiconductors and insulators, qualitative ideas; intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors; p-type and n-type semiconductors; p-n junction; semiconductor diode; I-V characteristics in forward and reverse bias; application of junction diode as a rectifier.

Component

Marks

Two experiments, one from each section

14 (7+7)

Practical record – experiments and activities

5

One activity from any section

3

Investigatory project

3

Viva on experiments, activities and project

5

Total

30

Section

Detailed Syllabus

Section–A: Experiments (Electrical & Electronic)

• Determination of resistivity of two/three wires by plotting potential difference against current.
• Finding resistance of wire/standard resistor using a metre bridge.
• Verification of series or parallel combination of resistances (series/parallel) using a metre bridge.
• Determination of resistance of a galvanometer by the half-deflection method and its figure of merit.
• Conversion of a galvanometer into a voltmeter or ammeter and verification.
• Determination of AC mains frequency using a sonometer.

Section–A: Activities

• Measure resistance & impedance of inductor (with/without iron core).
• Use multimeter to measure resistance, voltage, current, and check continuity.
• Assemble household circuit with bulbs, switches, fuse, and power source.
• Assemble components of a given electrical circuit.
• Study potential drop vs. length of wire for steady current.
• Draw and correct open circuit diagrams with battery, resistor, key, ammeter, voltmeter

Section–B: Experiments (Optics & Semiconductors)

• Find v for different u (concave mirror) and determine focal length
• Find focal length of convex mirror using convex lens
• Find focal length of convex lens by plotting u-v or 1/u–1/v graphs
• Find focal length of concave lens using convex lens
• Determine angle of minimum deviation for prism (plot i vs. δ graph)
• Determine refractive index of glass slab using travelling microscope
• Find refractive index of liquid using convex lens & plane mirror
• Find refractive index of liquid using concave mirror & plane mirror
• Draw I-V characteristic curve for p-n junction diode (forward & reverse bias)

Section–B: Activities

• Identify diode, LED, resistor, capacitor from mixed collection
• Use multimeter to check unidirectional current flow in diode/LED
• Study effect of light intensity on LDR (by varying source distance)
• Observe refraction & lateral deviation through glass slab
• Observe diffraction due to thin slit
• Study image formation by convex lens/concave mirror at different object distances
• Obtain specified focal length using combination of two lenses