Tamil Nadu HSE Second Year Physics study plan

Derive the mirror formula and thin-lens formula from geometry and apply the Cartesian sign convention to solve 20 spherical mirror and lens numericals closed-book.

Apply the lens maker's formula and the single-refracting-spherical-surface relation to 10 problems on combined thin lenses in contact and their effective power.

Draw from memory ray diagrams for total internal reflection, critical angle and optical fibre, and compute critical angles for three glass-air interfaces.

Derive the prism formula, calculate angle of minimum deviation and refractive index, and explain angular dispersion with a fully labelled prism diagram.

Compute magnifying power of a compound microscope and an astronomical telescope in both near-point and normal adjustment across 8 numericals.

State Huygens' principle and use it to derive Snell's law and the law of reflection in two written derivations written from scratch.

Derive the expression for fringe width in Young's double-slit experiment and solve 12 numericals on fringe spacing, wavelength and path difference.

Distinguish interference from diffraction and compute grating element, number of orders and missing-order conditions for a plane transmission grating.

Explain polarisation, Brewster's law and Malus' law, solving 8 numericals on polariser-analyser intensity and Brewster angle.

Compare the wavefront shapes produced by a point source, a collimated beam and a converging lens, and list two practical applications for each optical phenomenon studied this week.

Apply Coulomb's law and the superposition principle to 15 numericals on multi-charge systems, including the net force on a charge at the centre of a square.

Use Gauss' law to derive field expressions for an infinite line charge, an infinite plane sheet and a thin spherical shell, stating one validity condition for each.

Compute dipole moment, axial field, equatorial field and torque on a dipole in a uniform field across 8 configurations.

Derive the capacitance of parallel-plate, spherical and cylindrical capacitors and solve 10 numericals on series and parallel combinations.

Derive the energy stored in a capacitor and analyse how full and partial dielectric slabs change capacitance, field and stored energy.

Derive drift velocity and the relation I = nAev_d, and solve 12 numericals on drift speed, current density and relaxation time.

Apply the temperature dependence of resistivity and solve numericals on the resistance of a stretched wire and on mixed series-parallel networks.

Analyse cells with internal resistance, including series and parallel combinations and maximum power transfer, across 10 numericals.

Apply Kirchhoff's junction and loop rules to at least 5 two-loop circuits and verify each answer with a signed-current consistency check.

Explain the Wheatstone bridge balance condition and the potentiometer principle, using them to compare EMFs and to measure internal resistance.

Use the Biot-Savart law to derive the field at the centre of a circular coil and on its axis, then solve 10 numericals on these geometries.

Apply Ampere's circuital law to a long solenoid and a toroid and derive the field expressions for both.

Compute the force on a moving charge and on a current-carrying conductor, including radius and pitch of the helical path of a charged particle in a magnetic field.

Derive the torque on a current loop and the moving-coil galvanometer deflection, then convert a galvanometer into an ammeter and a voltmeter across 5 numericals.

Explain cyclotron operation with a labelled diagram and compute cyclotron frequency and maximum kinetic energy of the emerging particle.

Apply Faraday's and Lenz's laws to 12 numericals on induced EMF, rate of flux change and motional EMF of a rod on rails.

Derive the self-inductance of a long solenoid and the mutual inductance of two coaxial coils, and derive the energy stored in an inductor.

Draw phasor diagrams for AC through R, L and C separately and for a series LCR circuit, deriving impedance and phase angle from each diagram.

Analyse series LCR resonance, computing resonant frequency, quality factor, current and voltage across each element at resonance over 8 numericals.

Compute power in AC circuits including power factor and wattless current, and explain transformer action, turns ratio, efficiency and the main losses.

Derive Bohr's expressions for radius, velocity and energy, and compute the first three energy levels and spectral series limits for hydrogen.

Explain X-ray production and properties, and solve numericals on minimum wavelength and Moseley's law.

Apply Einstein's photoelectric equation, threshold frequency and stopping potential to 12 numericals, and interpret intensity-frequency and stopping-potential graphs.

Compute de Broglie wavelengths for electrons and macroscopic objects and connect the quantisation condition to Bohr's standing-wave picture.

Calculate mass defect, binding energy per nucleon, half-life and activity, and apply the radioactive decay law to 10 numericals.

Distinguish metals, semiconductors and insulators using band theory, and explain intrinsic versus extrinsic conduction in terms of doping and carrier density.

Explain PN junction formation, barrier potential and forward/reverse bias, and sketch the diode I-V characteristic marking knee voltage and breakdown voltage.

Analyse half-wave and full-wave rectifiers with input and output waveforms, and explain Zener diode voltage regulation using a solved load-regulation numerical.

Describe the CE transistor configuration with current-gain relations, and construct truth tables for OR, AND, NOT, NAND and NOR gates from given circuits.

Explain the block elements of a communication system, the need for modulation, AM and FM bandwidth, and compare satellite, optical fibre and internet transmission.