CBSE Class 11th Physics Syllabus (2025-26)

Detailed chapter-wise syllabus based on the latest CBSE curriculum

CBSE Class 11th Physics Syllabus

Time: 3 Hrs     Max Marks: 70

Unit I – Physical World and Measurement

Chapter 1: Units and Measurements

Unit II – Kinematics

Chapter 2: Motion in a Straight Line

Chapter 3: Motion in a Plane

Unit III – Laws of Motion

Chapter 4: Laws of Motion

Unit I + II + III → 23 Marks

Unit IV – Work, Energy and Power

Chapter 5: Work, Energy and Power

Unit V – Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body

Chapter 6: System of Particles and Rotational Motion

Unit VI – Gravitation

Chapter 7: Gravitation

Unit IV + V + VI → 17 Marks

Unit VII – Properties of Bulk Matter

Chapter 8: Mechanical Properties of Solids
Chapter 9: Mechanical Properties of Fluids
Chapter 10: Thermal Properties of Matter

Unit VIII – Thermodynamics

Chapter 11: Thermodynamics

Unit IX – Behaviour of Perfect Gases and Kinetic Theory of Gases

Chapter 12: Kinetic Theory

Unit VII + VIII + IX → 20 Marks

Unit X – Oscillations and Waves

Chapter 13: Oscillations
Chapter 14: Waves

Unit X → 10 Marks

Total Marks: 70

Unit I – Physical World and Measurement

Chapter 1: Units and Measurements

Need for measurement: Units of measurement; systems of units; SI units, fundamental and derived units. Significant figures, determining the uncertainty in result. Dimensions of physical quantities, dimensional analysis and its applications.

Unit II – Kinematics

Chapter 2: 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, average speed and average velocity and instantaneous velocity, uniformly accelerated motion, velocity-time and position-time graphs. Relations for uniformly accelerated motion (graphical and calculus treatment).

Chapter 3: 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 4: 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 5: 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 6: 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 7: 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 speed, orbital velocity of a satellite, energy of an orbiting satellite.

Unit VII – Properties of Bulk Matter

Chapter 8: 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.

Application of elastic behavior of materials (qualitative idea only).

Chapter 9: 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 (Torricelli's law and dynamic lift).

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 10: 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 11: Thermodynamics

Thermal equilibrium and definition of temperature, zeroth law of thermodynamics, heat, work and internal energy. First law of thermodynamics, second law of thermodynamics: thermodynamic state variable and equation of state.

Change of condition of gaseous state – isothermal, adiabatic, reversible, irreversible, and cyclic processes.

Unit IX – Behavior of Perfect Gases and Kinetic Theory of Gases

Chapter 12: 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 equipartition 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 13: Oscillations

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

Simple harmonic motion (S.H.M), uniform circular motion 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 14: 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.

Section A – Experiments
  1. To measure diameter of a small spherical/cylindrical body using Vernier Callipers.
  2. To measure diameter of a wire and thickness of a sheet using screw gauge.
  3. To determine volume of irregular lamina using screw gauge.
  4. To determine radius of curvature using a spherometer.
  5. To determine the mass using a beam balance.
  6. To find weight using parallelogram law of vectors.
  7. To plot pendulum graph and find length of second's pendulum.
  8. To study time period variation with different mass bobs.
  9. To study friction vs normal reaction and find coefficient.
  10. To find force acting on a roller on an inclined plane.
Section A – Activities
  1. To make a paper scale of given least count.
  2. To determine mass using meter scale and principle of moments.
  3. To plot graph with scales and error bars.
  4. To measure force of limiting friction for a roller.
  5. To study range of projectile with angle variation.
  6. To study energy conservation of a rolling ball.
  7. To study pendulum energy dissipation via amplitude-time graph.
Section B – Experiments
  1. To determine Young's modulus of a wire.
  2. To find spring constant via load-extension graph.
  3. To study volume-pressure relationship of air.
  4. To determine water surface tension by capillary rise.
  5. To determine viscosity of a liquid using terminal velocity.
  6. To study temperature-time curve for hot body cooling.
  7. To find specific heat capacity using method of mixtures.
  8. To study frequency-length relationship using sonometer.
  9. To study length-tension relationship with constant frequency.
  10. To find speed of sound in air using resonance tube.
Section B – Activities
  1. To plot cooling curve for molten wax.
  2. To observe heating effect on bi-metallic strip.
  3. To observe level change in heated container.
  4. To study detergent effect on surface tension.
  5. To study rate of heat loss in liquids.
  6. To observe depression in loaded meter scale.
  7. To observe pressure drop with increased fluid velocity.
Download Syllabus PDF