Physics — official units

Syllabus points

• Units and dimensions; dimensional analysis; least count; significant figures
• Error analysis for listed experiments: Vernier, screw gauge, g by pendulum, Young’s modulus, surface tension by capillary, calorimeter specific heat, u–v focal length, resonance column, Ohm’s law, meter bridge / post office box

Do / check

• Write least count and % error formula before computing
• Know what each named experiment measures

Syllabus points

• 1D/2D kinematics (Cartesian); projectiles; UCM; relative velocity
• Newton’s laws; inertial & uniformly accelerated frames; friction; work, energy, power; momentum conservation
• Systems of particles; COM; impulse; elastic/inelastic collisions
• Rigid body: MI, parallel/perpendicular axes; angular momentum; torque; rolling without slipping; collisions with rigid bodies
• Forced and damped oscillation (1D), resonance; linear and angular SHM
• Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus
• Gravitation: potential/field, g, Kepler, geostationary, satellites, escape velocity

Do / check

• Draw free-body + choose axis before torque equations
• Separate spin ω from orbital ω in relative rotation

Syllabus points

• Pressure in a fluid; Pascal; buoyancy
• Surface energy/tension; angle of contact; drops/bubbles; capillary rise
• Viscosity (Poiseuille excluded); modulus of rigidity and bulk modulus
• Stokes’ law; terminal velocity; streamline flow; continuity; Bernoulli applications

Do / check

• State assumptions (ideal/incompressible) for Bernoulli
• Check gauge vs absolute pressure

Syllabus points

• Plane waves; longitudinal/transverse; superposition
• Progressive and stationary waves; strings and air columns; resonance; beats
• Speed of sound in gases; Doppler effect (sound)

Do / check

• Draw nodes/antinodes for boundary conditions
• State observer/source motion clearly for Doppler

Syllabus points

• Thermal expansion; calorimetry; latent heat; conduction (1D); convection/radiation ideas; Newton’s cooling
• Ideal gas; Cv, Cp mono/diatomic; isothermal/adiabatic; bulk modulus of gases
• Heat–work equivalence; First law (ideal gases); Second law; reversible/irreversible; Carnot efficiency
• Blackbody: absorptive/emissive powers; Kirchhoff; Wien; Stefan

Do / check

• Sign convention for ΔU = Q − W (or stated convention) written once
• Plot P–V before computing cycle work

Syllabus points

• Coulomb; field and potential; PE of point charges and dipoles in uniform field; field lines
• Flux; Gauss law applications: infinite wire, infinite sheet, thin spherical shell
• Capacitance; parallel plate with/without dielectrics; series/parallel; energy in a capacitor

Do / check

• Choose Gaussian surface from symmetry first
• Track dielectric κ carefully in energy formulas

Syllabus points

• Electric current; Ohm’s law; series/parallel resistors and cells
• Kirchhoff’s laws and simple applications; heating effect of current

Do / check

• Assign loop currents consistently
• Check internal resistance of cells in network problems

Syllabus points

• Biot–Savart and Ampere; field of straight wire, circular coil axis, long solenoid
• Force on moving charge and current wire; magnetic moment of loop; galvanometer/voltmeter/ammeter conversions
• Faraday, Lenz; self and mutual inductance; RC, LR, LC, series LCR with DC and AC
• EM waves characteristics; spectrum (radio → γ) and elementary uses

Do / check

• Write Lenz direction before computing induced emf
• For LCR, reduce to Leff/Ceff when mutual inductance present

Syllabus points

• Rectilinear propagation; reflection/refraction plane & spherical; TIR; prism deviation/dispersion
• Thin lenses; combinations of mirrors and thin lenses; magnification
• Huygens; interference limited to YDSE
• Single-slit diffraction; polarisation; Brewster; Polaroids

Do / check

• Sign convention stated once per solution
• Path difference before intensity formula in YDSE

Syllabus points

• Nucleus; α, β, γ; radioactive decay law; decay constant; half/mean life
• Binding energy; fission and fusion energy calculations
• Photoelectric effect; Bohr hydrogen-like atoms
• Characteristic and continuous X-rays; Moseley’s law; de Broglie matter waves

Do / check

• Track units (eV/MeV) in nuclear energy
• Write Einstein photoelectric equation before graphing