JEE Main Physics Syllabus

Physics syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Physics in JEE Main, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT

   10 topics

   • Units of measurements
   • System of Units
   • S I Units
   • fundamental and derived units
   • least count
   • significant figures
   • Errors in measurements
   • Dimensions of Physics quantities
   • dimensional analysis
   • applications
2. 2

   KINEMATICS

   19 topics

   • The frame of reference
   • motion in a straight line
   • Position- time graph
   • speed and velocity
   • Uniform and non-uniform motion
   • average speed and instantaneous velocity
   • uniformly accelerated motion
   • velocity-time
   • position-time graph
   • relations for uniformly accelerated motion
   • Scalars and Vectors
   • Vector. Addition and subtraction
   • scalar and vector products
   • Unit Vector
   • Resolution of a Vector
   • Relative Velocity
   • Motion in a plane
   • Projectile Motion
   • Uniform Circular Motion
3. 3

   LAWS OF MOTION

   12 topics

   • Force and inertia
   • Newton’s First law of motion
   • Momentum
   • Newton’s Second Law of motion
   • Impulses
   • 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
   • Dynamics of uniform circular motion
     • centripetal force and its applications
4. 4

   WORK, ENERGY, AND POWER

   8 topics

   • Work done by a constant force and a variable force
   • kinetic and potential energies
   • work-energy theorem
   • power
   • The potential energy of spring conservation of mechanical energy
   • conservative and non-conservative forces
   • motion in a vertical circle
   • Elastic and inelastic collisions in one and two dimensions
5. 5

   ROTATIONAL MOTION

   14 topics

   • Centre of the mass of a two-particle system
   • Centre of the mass of a rigid body
   • Basic concepts of rotational motion
   • moment of a force
   • torque
   • angular momentum
   • conservation of angular momentum and its applications
   • moment of inertia
   • radius of gyration
   • values of moments of inertia for simple geometrical objects
   • parallel and perpendicular axes theorems and their applications
   • Equilibrium of rigid bodies
   • rigid body rotation and equations of rotational motion
   • comparison of linear and rotational motions
6. 6

   GRAVITATION

   9 topics

   • The universal law of gravitation
   • Acceleration due to gravity and its variation with altitude and depth
   • Kepler’s law of planetary motion
   • Gravitational potential energy
   • Gravitational potential
   • Escape velocity
   • Motion of a satellite
   • Orbital velocity
   • Time period and energy of satellite
7. 7

   PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS AND LIQUIDS

   27 topics

   • Elastic behaviour
   • Stress-strain relationship
   • Hooke's Law
   • Young's modulus
   • Bulk modulus
   • Modulus of rigidity
   • Pressure due to a fluid column
   • Pascal's law and its applications
   • Effect of gravity on fluid pressure
   • Viscosity
   • Stokes' law
   • Terminal velocity
   • Streamline and turbulent flow
   • Critical velocity
   • Bernoulli's principle and its applications
   • Surface energy and surface tension
   • Angle of contact
   • Excess of pressure across a curved surface
   • Application of surface tension - drops, bubbles, and capillary rise
   • Heat
   • Temperature
   • Thermal expansion
   • Specific heat capacity
   • Calorimetry
   • Change of state
   • Latent heat
   • Heat transfer
     • Conduction
     • Convection
     • Radiation
8. 8

   THERMODYNAMICS

   7 topics

   • Thermal equilibrium
   • Zeroth law of thermodynamics
   • The concept of temperature
   • Heat, work, and internal energy
   • The first law of thermodynamics
   • Isothermal and adiabatic processes
   • The second law of thermodynamics
     • Reversible and irreversible processes
9. 9

   KINETIC THEORY OF GASES

   8 topics

   • Equation of state of a perfect gas
   • Work done on compressing a gas
   • Kinetic theory of gases - assumptions
   • The concept of pressure
   • Kinetic interpretation of temperature
     • RMS speed of gas molecules
     • Degrees of freedom
   • Law of equipartition of energy and applications to specific heat capacities of gases
   • Mean free path
   • Avogadro's number
10. 10

    OSCILLATIONS AND WAVES

    10 topics

    • Oscillations and periodic motion – time period, frequency, displacement as a function of time
      • Periodic functions
    • Simple harmonic motion (S.H.M.) and its equation
      • Phase
      • Oscillations of a spring - restoring force and force constant
      • Energy in S.H.M. - Kinetic and potential energies
    • Simple pendulum - derivation of expression for its time period
    • Wave motion
    • Longitudinal and transverse waves
    • Speed of the 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
11. 11

    ELECTROSTATICS

    9 topics

    • Electric charges
    • Electric field
      • Electric field due to a point charge
      • Electric field lines
      • Electric dipole
      • Torque on a dipole in a uniform electric field
    • Electric flux
    • Gauss's law and its applications
      • Field due to infinitely long uniformly charged straight wire
      • Field due to uniformly charged infinite plane sheet
      • Field due to uniformly charged thin spherical shell
    • Electric potential
      • Calculation for a point charge
      • Calculation for electric dipole
      • Calculation for system of charges
    • Conductors and insulators
    • Dielectrics and electric polarization
    • Capacitors and capacitances
      • Combination of capacitors in series and parallel
      • Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectric medium
    • Energy stored in a capacitor
12. 12

    CURRENT ELECTRICITY

    9 topics

    • Electric current
    • Ohm's law
    • Electrical resistance
    • Series and parallel combinations of resistors
    • Temperature dependence of resistance
    • Internal resistance
    • Kirchhoff’s laws and their applications
    • Wheatstone bridge
    • Metre Bridge
13. 13

    MAGNETIC EFFECTS OF CURRENT AND MAGNETISM

    11 topics

    • Biot - Savart law
    • Ampere's law
    • Force on a moving charge in uniform magnetic and electric fields
    • Force on a current-carrying conductor in a uniform magnetic field
    • Torque experienced by a current loop in a uniform magnetic field
    • Moving coil galvanometer
    • Current loop as a magnetic dipole
    • Bar magnet as an equivalent solenoid
    • Magnetic field due to a magnetic dipole
      • Along its axis
      • Perpendicular to its axis
    • Para-, dia- and ferromagnetic substances
    • Effect of temperature on magnetic properties
14. 14

    ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ALTERNATING CURRENTS

    12 topics

    • Electromagnetic induction
    • Faraday's law
    • Induced emf and current
    • Lenz’s Law
    • Eddy currents
    • Self and mutual inductance
    • Alternating currents
    • Reactance and impedance
    • LCR series circuit
    • Resonance
    • Power in AC circuits
    • AC generator and transformer
15. 15

    ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

    5 topics

    • Displacement current
    • Electromagnetic waves and their characteristics
    • Transverse nature of electromagnetic waves
    • Electromagnetic spectrum
      • Radio waves
      • Microwaves
      • Infrared
      • Visible
      • Ultraviolet
      • X-rays
      • Gamma rays
    • Applications of e.m. waves
16. 16

    OPTICS

    10 topics

    • Reflection of Light
      • Spherical mirrors
      • Mirror formula
    • Refraction of Light
      • Plane surfaces
      • Spherical surfaces
    • Thin Lens Formula
      • Lens maker formula
    • Total Internal Reflection
      • Applications
    • Magnification
    • Power of a Lens
    • Combination of Thin Lenses
      • In contact
    • Refraction of Light through a Prism
    • Microscope and Astronomical Telescope
      • Reflecting
      • Refracting
      • Magnifying powers
    • Wave Optics
      • Wavefront and Huygens' principle
      • Laws of reflection and refraction using Huygens principle
      • Interference
      • Young's double-slit experiment
      • Expression for fringe width
      • Coherent sources
      • Sustained interference of light
      • Diffraction due to a single slit
      • Width of central maximum
      • Polarization
      • Plane-polarized light
      • Brewster's law
      • Uses of plane-polarized light and Polaroid
17. 17

    DUAL NATURE OF MATTER AND RADIATION

    3 topics

    • Dual nature of radiation
    • Photoelectric effect
      • Hertz and Lenard's observations
      • Einstein's photoelectric equation
    • Matter waves
      • Wave nature of particle
      • de Broglie relation
18. 18

    ATOMS AND NUCLEI

    6 topics

    • Alpha-particle scattering experiment
    • Rutherford's model of atom
    • Bohr model
      • Energy levels
      • Hydrogen spectrum
    • Composition and size of nucleus
      • Atomic masses
    • Mass-energy relation
      • Mass defect
      • Binding energy per nucleon and its variation with mass number
    • Nuclear fission and fusion
19. 19

    ELECTRONIC DEVICES

    5 topics

    • Semiconductors
    • Semiconductor diode
      • I-V characteristics in forward and reverse bias
      • Diode as a rectifier
    • LED
      • Photodiode
      • Solar cell
      • Zener diode
    • Zener diode as a voltage regulator
    • Logic gates
      • OR
      • AND
      • NOT
      • NAND
      • NOR
20. 20

    EXPERIMENTAL SKILLS

    overview

    Examined as a single unit within Physics — no further topic split in the official outline.

Physics flashcards for JEE Main

24 of 50 cards from the Physics deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is a physical quantity, and what two parts express its measurement?

   A physical quantity is a property of matter that can be measured. Its measurement is expressed as a numerical value (magnitude) multiplied by a unit, i.e. $Q = n \times u$, where $n$ is the numerical value and $u$ is the unit.

2. State the relation between the numerical value of a quantity and the size of the unit chosen.

   For a fixed physical quantity, $n \times u = \text{constant}$, so $n \propto \frac{1}{u}$. A larger unit gives a smaller numerical value and vice versa, i.e. $n_1 u_1 = n_2 u_2$.

3. What is the difference between fundamental (base) units and derived units?

   Fundamental units are independent units for base quantities that cannot be expressed in terms of others (e.g. metre, kilogram, second). Derived units are obtained by combining fundamental units (e.g. unit of force $\text{kg}\cdot\text{m}\cdot\text{s}^{-2}$).

4. List the seven base quantities of the SI system and their units.

   Length — metre (m); Mass — kilogram (kg); Time — second (s); Electric current — ampere (A); Temperature — kelvin (K); Amount of substance — mole (mol); Luminous intensity — candela (cd).

5. Name the two supplementary SI units and the quantities they measure.

   Radian (rad) for plane angle and steradian (sr) for solid angle.

6. Define one radian.

   One radian is the angle subtended at the centre of a circle by an arc whose length equals the radius: $\theta = \frac{s}{r}$, so $\theta = 1\ \text{rad}$ when $s = r$.

7. Name three common systems of units and their base units of length, mass and time.

   CGS: centimetre, gram, second. FPS (British): foot, pound, second. MKS/SI: metre, kilogram, second.

8. What is the least count of a measuring instrument?

   The least count is the smallest measurement (smallest division) that an instrument can read accurately, e.g. $1\ \text{mm}$ for an ordinary metre scale.

9. Give the formula for the least count of a vernier callipers.

   $\text{L.C.} = 1\ \text{M.S.D.} - 1\ \text{V.S.D.} = \dfrac{\text{value of 1 main scale division}}{\text{number of vernier scale divisions}}$.

10. Give the formula for the least count of a screw gauge (micrometer).

    $\text{L.C.} = \dfrac{\text{pitch}}{\text{number of divisions on circular scale}}$, where pitch is the distance moved per complete rotation.

11. Define significant figures.

    Significant figures are the digits in a measurement that are known reliably plus the first uncertain (estimated) digit; they convey the precision of the measurement.

12. State the rule for significant figures regarding zeros to the left of the first non-zero digit.

    Leading zeros (zeros before the first non-zero digit) are NOT significant. For example, $0.00254$ has only 3 significant figures (2, 5, 4).

13. How many significant figures are in $6.032 \times 10^{4}$ and why does scientific notation help?

    It has 4 significant figures. Scientific notation removes ambiguity about trailing/leading zeros, since only the digits in the mantissa are counted.

14. State the significant-figure rule for multiplication and division.

    The result should be rounded to the same number of significant figures as the quantity with the least number of significant figures among those multiplied or divided.

15. State the significant-figure rule for addition and subtraction.

    The result should be rounded to the same number of decimal places as the quantity with the least number of decimal places.

16. What is the difference between accuracy and precision?

    Accuracy is how close a measured value is to the true value. Precision is how close repeated measurements are to one another (resolution/consistency), independent of the true value.

17. Define error in a measurement and name its two broad types.

    Error is the difference between a measured value and the true value. The two broad types are systematic errors (consistent, one-directional, e.g. instrumental, zero error) and random errors (irregular, varying in sign and size).

18. How is the best (most probable) value obtained from several measurements, and what is absolute error?

    The best value is the arithmetic mean $a_{mean} = \frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i$. The absolute error of the $i$-th reading is $\Delta a_i = |a_{mean} - a_i|$.

19. Define mean absolute error, relative error and percentage error.

    Mean absolute error: $\overline{\Delta a} = \frac{1}{n}\sum |\Delta a_i|$. Relative error: $\frac{\overline{\Delta a}}{a_{mean}}$. Percentage error: $\frac{\overline{\Delta a}}{a_{mean}} \times 100\%$.

20. How do errors combine for a sum or difference $Z = A \pm B$?

    The absolute errors add: $\Delta Z = \Delta A + \Delta B$. The maximum absolute error in the result equals the sum of the absolute errors of the terms.

21. How do errors combine for a product or quotient $Z = AB$ or $Z = \frac{A}{B}$?

    The relative errors add: $\dfrac{\Delta Z}{Z} = \dfrac{\Delta A}{A} + \dfrac{\Delta B}{B}$.

22. What is the maximum relative error in $Z = \dfrac{A^{p} B^{q}}{C^{r}}$?

    $\dfrac{\Delta Z}{Z} = p\,\dfrac{\Delta A}{A} + q\,\dfrac{\Delta B}{B} + r\,\dfrac{\Delta C}{C}$ — exponents multiply the corresponding relative errors and all terms add.

23. What are the dimensions of a physical quantity?

    Dimensions are the powers to which the fundamental quantities (mass $M$, length $L$, time $T$, etc.) must be raised to represent that quantity. They are written in a dimensional formula, e.g. force $= [MLT^{-2}]$.

24. Write the dimensional formulae for velocity, acceleration and force.

    Velocity: $[M^{0}LT^{-1}]$; Acceleration: $[M^{0}LT^{-2}]$; Force: $[MLT^{-2}]$.

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