CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2024-25 PDF, Exam Pattern, Download PDF, Notes

CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2024-25

The CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2024-25 is made in this way to clear students’ conceptual clarity of the subject matter. The Central Board of Education has revised the Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2025, it introduces the students to the various procedures utilized in industrial and technological applications related to physics. They have arranged the subject matter’s units logically and placed concepts appropriately with their connections to enhance learning.

As students gain conceptual competency in Physics in class 12th, they will also see and value how the subject connects to other academic fields. Scroll down to read the full physics syllabus, exam pattern, marking scheme, books, practicals, projects, and more.

Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2025

Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2025 is modified by reducing the amount of material covered in the curriculum. The Board also removed the conceptual and content overlap with other disciplines. Process knowledge, analytical capabilities, and physics-related applications are given more importance in this Class 12 CBSE Physics.

Furthermore, the syllabus reinforces the ideas established during the secondary level, so it offers a solid basis for subsequent education in the field. The use of SI units, symbols, and formulations under international standards is emphasized. The current revised CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2024-25 takes into account the learners’ cognitive level as well as the rigor and depth of the disciplinary approach.

CBSE Class 12 Physics Paper Pattern 2024-25 and Marking Scheme

CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus Content encourages the learners to develop their experimental, qualitative,  decision-making, and inquiry abilities. The physics curriculum also pushes learners to think creatively and solve problems. Check out the full overview of the syllabus and marking scheme below.

Class 12 Physics CBSE Syllabus 2024-25

Get the detailed CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2024-25 below.

Unit I: Electrostatics 26 Periods

Chapter–1: Electric Charges and Fields

Electric charges, Conservation of charge, Coulomb’s law-force between two- point charges, forces between multiple charges; superposition principle and continuous charge distribution.
Electric field, electric field due to a point charge, electric field lines, electric dipole, electric field due to a dipole, torque on a dipole in uniform electric field.
Electric flux, statement of Gauss’s theorem and its applications to find field due to infinitely long straight wire, uniformly charged infinite plane sheet and uniformly charged thin spherical shell (field inside and outside).

Chapter–2: Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance

Electric potential, potential difference, electric potential due to a point charge, a dipole and system of charges; equipotential surfaces, electrical potential energy of a system of two-point charges and of electric dipole in an electrostatic field.
Conductors and insulators, free charges and bound charges inside a conductor. Dielectrics and electric polarization, capacitors and capacitance, combination of capacitors in series and in parallel, capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectric medium between the plates, energy stored in a capacitor (no derivation, formulae only).

Unit II: Current Electricity 18 Periods

Chapter–3: Current Electricity

Electric current, flow of electric charges in a metallic conductor, drift velocity, mobility and their relation with electric current; Ohm’s law, V-I characteristics (linear and non-linear), electrical energy and power, electrical resistivity and conductivity, temperature dependence of resistance, Internal resistance of a cell, potential difference and emf of a cell, combination of cells in series and in parallel, Kirchhoff’s rules, Wheatstone bridge.

Unit III: Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism 25 Periods

Chapter–4: Moving Charges and Magnetism
Concept of magnetic field, Oersted’s experiment.

Biot – Savart law and its application to current carrying circular loop.

Ampere’s law and its applications to infinitely long straight wire. Straight solenoid (only qualitative treatment), force on a moving charge in uniform magnetic and electric fields.
Force on a current-carrying conductor in a uniform magnetic field, force between two parallel current-carrying conductors-definition of ampere, torque experienced by a current loop in uniform magnetic field; Current loop as a magnetic dipole and its magnetic dipole moment, moving coil galvanometer- its current sensitivity and conversion to ammeter and voltmeter.

Chapter–5: Magnetism and Matter

Bar magnet, bar magnet as an equivalent solenoid (qualitative treatment only), magnetic field intensity due to a magnetic dipole (bar magnet) along its axis and perpendicular to its axis (qualitative treatment only), torque on a magnetic dipole (bar magnet) in a uniform magnetic field (qualitative treatment only), magnetic field lines.
Magnetic properties of materials- Para-, dia- and ferro – magnetic substances with examples, Magnetization of materials, effect of temperature on magnetic properties.

Unit IV: Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents 24 Periods

Chapter–6: Electromagnetic Induction
Electromagnetic induction; Faraday’s laws, induced EMF and current; Lenz’s Law, Self and mutual induction.

Chapter–7: Alternating Current

Alternating currents, peak and RMS value of alternating current/voltage; reactance and impedance; LCR series circuit (phasors only), resonance, power in AC circuits, power factor, wattless current.
AC generator, Transformer.

Unit V: Electromagnetic waves 04 Periods

Chapter–8: Electromagnetic Waves

Basic idea of displacement current, Electromagnetic waves, their characteristics, their transverse nature (qualitative idea only).
Electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays) including elementary facts about their uses.

Unit VI: Optics 30 Periods

Chapter–9: Ray Optics and Optical Instruments

Ray Optics: Reflection of light, spherical mirrors, mirror formula, refraction of light, total internal reflection and optical fibers, refraction at spherical surfaces, lenses, thin lens formula, lens maker’s formula, magnification, power of a lens, combination of thin lenses in contact, refraction of light through a prism.
Optical instruments: Microscopes and astronomical telescopes (reflecting and refracting) and their magnifying powers.

Chapter–10: Wave Optics

Wave optics: Wave front and Huygen’s principle, reflection and refraction of plane wave at a plane surface using wave fronts. Proof of laws of reflection and refraction using Huygen’s principle. Interference, Young’s double slit experiment and expression for fringe width (No derivation final expression only), coherent sources and sustained interference of light, diffraction due to a single slit, width of central maxima (qualitative treatment only).

Unit VII: Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter 08 Periods

Chapter–11: Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter

Dual nature of radiation, Photoelectric effect, Hertz and Lenard’s observations; Einstein’s photoelectric equation-particle nature of light.
Experimental study of photoelectric effect

Matter waves-wave nature of particles, de-Broglie relation.
Unit VIII: Atoms and Nuclei 15 Periods

Chapter–12: Atoms

Alpha-particle scattering experiment; Rutherford’s model of atom; Bohr model of hydrogen atom, Expression for radius of nth possible orbit, velocity and energy of electron in nth orbit, hydrogen line spectra (qualitative treatment only).
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, nuclear fusion.

Unit IX: Electronic Devices 10 Periods

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

Energy bands in conductors, semiconductors and insulators (qualitative ideas only) Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors- p and n type, p-n junction
Semiconductor diode – I-V characteristics in forward and reverse bias, application of junction diode -diode as a rectifier.

CBSE Class 12 Physics PRACTICALS (Total Periods 60)

• The record to be submitted by the students at the time of their annual examination has to include:
• Record of at least 8 Experiments [with 4 from each section], to be performed by the students.
• Record of at least 6 Activities [with 3 each from section A and section B], to be performed by the students.
• The Report of the project carried out by the students.

Experiments

SECTION–A

1. To determine resistivity of two / three wires by plotting a graph for potential difference versus current.
2. To find resistance of a given wire / standard resistor using metre bridge.

3. To verify the laws of combination (series) of resistances using a metre bridge.
OR

To verify the laws of combination (parallel) of resistances using a metre bridge.
4. To determine resistance of a galvanometer by half-deflection method and to find its figure of merit.
5. To convert the given galvanometer (of known resistance and figure of merit) into a voltmeter of desired range and to verify the same.
OR

To convert the given galvanometer (of known resistance and figure of merit) into an ammeter of desired range and to verify the same.
6. To find the frequency of AC mains with a sonometer.

Activities

1. To measure the resistance and impedance of an inductor with or without iron core.

2. To measure resistance, voltage (AC/DC), current (AC) and check continuity of a given circuit using multimeter.
3. To assemble a household circuit comprising three bulbs, three (on/off) switches, a fuse and a power source.
4. To assemble the components of a given electrical circuit.

5. To study the variation in potential drop with length of a wire for a steady current.

6. To draw the diagram of a given open circuit comprising at least a battery, resistor/rheostat, key, ammeter and voltmeter. Mark the components that are not connected in proper order and correct the circuit and also the circuit diagram.

SECTION-B

Experiments
1. To find the value of v for different values of u in case of a concave mirror and to find the focal length.
2. To find the focal length of a convex mirror, using a convex lens.
3. To find the focal length of a convex lens by plotting graphs between u and v
or between 1/u and 1/v.
4. To find the focal length of a concave lens, using a convex lens.
5. To determine angle of minimum deviation for a given prism by plotting a graph

between angle of incidence and angle of deviation.
6. To determine refractive index of a glass slab using a travelling microscope.

7. To find the refractive index of a liquid using convex lens and plane mirror.
8. To find the refractive index of a liquid using a concave mirror and a plane mirror.

9. To draw the I-V characteristic curve for a p-n junction diode in forward and reverse bias.
Activities

1. To identify a diode, an LED, a resistor and a capacitor from a mixed collection of such items.
2. Use of multimeter to see the unidirectional flow of current in case of a diode and an LED and check whether a given electronic component (e.g., diode) is in working order.
3. To study effect of intensity of light (by varying distance of the source) on an LDR.
4. To observe refraction and lateral deviation of a beam of light incident obliquely on a glass slab.
5. To observe diffraction of light due to a thin slit.
6. To study the nature and size of the image formed by a (i) convex lens, or (ii) concave mirror, on a screen by using a candle and a screen (for different distances of the candle from the lens/mirror).
7. To obtain a lens combination with the specified focal length by using two lenses from the given set of lenses.

CBSE Class 12 Physics Projects

Some of the suggested Investigatory Projects of physics for class 12 students are recommended below.

1. To study various factors on which the internal resistance/EMF of a cell depends.
2. To study the variations in current flowing in a circuit containing an LDR because of a variation in
(a) the power of the incandescent lamp, used to ‘illuminate’ the LDR (keeping all the lamps at a fixed distance).
(b) the distance of a incandescent lamp (of fixed power) used to ‘illuminate’ the LDR.
3. To find the refractive indices of (a) water (b) oil (transparent) using a plane mirror, an equiconvex lens (made from a glass of known refractive index) and an adjustable object needle.
4. To investigate the relation between the ratio of (i) output and input voltage and (ii) number of turns in the secondary coil and primary coil of a self-designed transformer.
5. To investigate the dependence of the angle of deviation on the angle of incidence using a hollow prism filled one by one, with different transparent fluids.
6. To estimate the charge induced on each one of the two identical Styrofoam (or pith) balls suspended in a vertical plane by making use of Coulomb’s law.
7. To study the factor on which the self-inductance of a coil depends by observing the effect of this coil, when put in series with a resistor/(bulb) in a circuit fed up by an
A.C. source of adjustable frequency.
8. To study the earth’s magnetic field using a compass needle -bar magnet by plotting magnetic field lines and tangent galvanometer.

CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2024-25 PDF

The CBSE Board gives great attention to ensuring that the Class 12 Physics syllabus is in line with worldwide standards. Download the full Physics curriculum from this link – CBSE Class 12 Physics Syllabus 2024-25.

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