ICSE (Class XII)
There will be two papers in the subject.
Paper I: Theory - 3 hour ... 70 marks
Paper II: Practical - 3 hours ... 20 marks
Project Work ... 7 marks
Practical File ... 3 marks
PAPER I -THEORY- 70 Marks
Paper I shall be of 3 hours duration and be divided into two
Part I (20 marks): This part will consist of compulsory short
answer questions, testing knowledge, application and skills relating to
elementary/fundamental aspects of the entire syllabus.
Part II (50 marks): This part will be divided into three
Sections A, B and C. There shall be three questions in Section A (each carrying
9 marks) and candidates are required to answer two questions from this Section.
There shall be three questions in Section B (each carrying 8
marks) and candidates are required to answer two questions from this Section.
There shall be three questions in Section C (each carrying 8 marks) and
candidates are required to answer two questions from this Section. Therefore,
candidates are expected to answer six questions in Part II.
Note: Unless otherwise specified, only S. I. units are to
be used while teaching and learning, as well as for answering questions.
(i) Coulomb's law, S.I. unit of charge; permittivity of free
(ii) Concept of electric field E = F/qo; Gauss' theorem and its
(iii) Electric dipole; electric field at a point on the axis and
perpendicular bisector of a dipole; electric dipole moment; torque on a dipole
in a uniform electric field.
(iv) Electric lines of force.
(v) Electric potential and potential energy; potential due to a
point charge and due to a dipole; potential energy of an electric dipole in an
electric field. Van de Graff generator.
(vi) Capacitance of a conductor C = Q/V, the farad; capacitance
of a parallel-plate capacitor;
(vii) Dielectrics (elementary ideas only); permittivity and
relative permittivity of a dielectric (∈r = ∈/∈o). Effects on pd, charge and
2. Current Electricity.
(i) Steady currents; sources of current, simple cells, secondary
(ii) Potential difference as the power supplied divided by the
current; Ohm's law and its limitations; Combinations of resistors in series and
parallel; Electric energy and power.
(iii) Mechanism of flow of current in metals, drift velocity of
charges. Resistance and resistivity and their relation to drift velocity of
electrons; description of resistivity and conductivity based on electron theory;
effect of temperature on resistance, colour coding of resistance.
(iv) Electromotive force in a cell; internal resistance and back
emf. Combination of cells in series and parallel.
(v) Kirchoff's laws and their simple applications to circuits
with resistors and sources of emf; Wheatstone bridge, metre -bridge and
potentiometer; use for comparison of emf and determination of internal
resistance of sources of current; use of resistors (shunts and multipliers) in
ammeters and voltmeters.
(vi) Electrical Power
(vii) Thermoelectricity; Seebeck effect; measurement of thermo
emf; its variation with temperature. Peltier effect.
(i) Magnetic field B, definition from magnetic force on a moving
charge; magnetic field lines. Superposition of magnetic fields; magnetic field
and magnetic flux density; the earth's magnetic field; Magnetic field of a
magnetic dipole; tangent law.
(ii) Properties of dia, para and ferromagnetic substances;
susceptibility and relative permeability
(i) Oersted's experiment; Biot-Savart law, the tesla; magnetic
field near a long straight wire, at the centre of a circular loop, and at a
point on the axis of a circular coil carrying current and a solenoid. Amperes
circuital law and its application to obtain magnetic field due to a long
straight wire; tangent galvanometer.
(ii) Force on a moving charge in a magnetic field; force on a
current carrying conductor kept in a magnetic field; force between two parallel
current carrying wires; definition of the ampere based on the force between two
current carrying wires. Cyclotron (simple idea).
(iii) A current loop as a magnetic dipole; magnetic dipole
moment; torque on a current loop; moving coil galvanometer.
(iv) Electromagnetic induction, magnetic flux and induced emf;
Faraday's law and Lenz's law; transformers; eddy currents.
(v) Mutual and self inductance: the henry. Growth and decay of
current in LR circuit (dc) (graphical approach), time constant.
(vi) Simple a.c. generators. Principle, description, theory and
(v) Comparison of a.c. with d.c. Variation in current and
voltage with time for a.c. and d.c.
5. Alternating Current Circuits
(i) Change of voltage and current with time, the phase
difference; peak and rms values of voltage and current; their relation in
(ii) Variation of voltage and current in a.c. circuits
consisting of only resistors, only inductors and only capacitors (phasor
representation), phase lag and phase lead.
(iii) The LCR series circuit: phasor diagram, expression for V
or I; phase lag/lead; impedance of a series LCR circuit (arrived at by phasor
diagram); Special cases for RL and RC circuits.
6. Wave Optics
(i) Complete electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma
rays; transverse nature of electromagnetic waves, Huygen's principle; laws of
reflection and refraction from Huygen's principle. Speed of light.
(ii) Conditions for interference of light, interference of
monochromatic light by double slit; measurement of wave length. Fresnel’s
(iii) Single slit Fraunhofer diffraction (elementary
(iv) Plane polarised electromagnetic wave (elementary idea),
polarisation of light by reflection. Brewster's law; polaroids.
7. Ray Optics and Optical Instruments
(i) Refraction of light at a plane interface (Snell's law);
total internal reflection and critical angle; total reflecting prisms and
(ii) Refraction through a prism, minimum deviation and
derivation of relation between n, A and δmin.
(iii) Refraction at a single spherical surface (relation between
n1, n2, u, v and R); refraction through thin lens (lens maker's formula and
formula relating u, v, f, n, R1 and R2); combined focal length of two thin
lenses in contact. Combination of lenses and mirrors [Silvering of lens
(vi) Simple astronomical telescope (refracting and reflecting),
magnifying power and resolving power of a simple astronomical telescope.
(vii) Human Eye, Defects of vision and their correction.
8. Electrons and Photons
(i) Cathode rays: measurement of e/m for electrons. Millikan’s
oil drop experiment.
(ii) Photo electric effect, quantization of radiation;
Einstein's equation; threshold frequency; work function; energy and momentum of
photon. Determination of Planck’s Constant.
(iii) Wave particle duality, De Broglie equation, phenomenon of
electron diffraction (informative only).
(i) Charge and size of nuclei (α-particle scattering); atomic
structure; Bohr's postulates, Bohr's quantization condition; radii of Bohr
orbits for hydrogen atom; energy of the hydrogen atom in the nth state; line
spectra of hydrogen and calculation of E and f for different lines.
(ii) Production of X-rays; maximum frequency for a given tube
potential. Characteristic and continuous X -rays. Moseley’s law.
(i) Atomic masses; unified atomic mass unit u and its value in
MeV; the neutron; composition and size of nucleus; mass defect and binding
(ii) Radioactivity: nature and radioactive decay law, half-life,
mean life and decay constant. Nuclear reactions.
11. Nuclear Energy
(i) Energy - mass equivalence.
(ii) Nuclear fission; chain reaction; principle of operation of
a nuclear reactor.
(iii) Nuclear fusion; thermonuclear fusion as the source of the
12. Semiconductor Devices
(i) Energy bands in solids; energy band diagrams for distinction between
conductors, insulators and semi-conductors - intrinsic and extrinsic; electrons
and holes in semiconductors.
(ii) Junction diode; depletion region; forward and reverse biasing current -
voltage characteristics; pn diode as a half wave and a full wave rectifier;
solar cell, LED and photodiode. Zener diode and voltage regulation.
(iii) The junction transistor; npn and pnp transistors; current gain in a
transistor; transistor (common emitter) amplifier (only circuit diagram and
qualitative treatment) and oscillator.
(iv) Elementary idea of discreet and integrated circuits, analogue and
digital circuits. Logic gates (symbols; working with truth tables; applications
and uses) - NOT, OR, AND, NOR, NAND.
PRACTICAL WORK- 20 Marks
The experiments for laboratory work and practical examinations are mostly
from two groups;
(i) experiments based on ray optics and
(ii) experiments based on current electricity. The main skill required in
(i) is to remove parallax between a needle and the real image of another
needle. In group