CUET Physics Syllabus 2026

If you plan to take CUET UG 2026 with Physics as one of your subjects, you will be happy to know you are not alone! Physics is one of the five most chosen subjects in CUET UG for science stream students. The syllabus for CUET Physics is released by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on the cuet.nta.nic.in official website in a PDF format. The syllabus mainly covers the Class 12 part of the topics from the Board exam. 

Although most students agree that Physics is a little tough when broken down into the proper syllabus, PYQs, and the right direction, then it is not tough to learn and can even be fun! When you do well in Physics, your chances of entering a premier university with courses like B.Sc., B.Tech, and more improve. CUET UG 2026 is expected to take place in the second week of May 2026.

CUET Physics Syllabus 2026

For students planning to take admission in undergraduate courses offered by Central Universities, the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is conducted. The CUET is divided into three sections - Language Test (Section I), Domain Specific Subjects (Section II), and a General Aptitude Test (Section III). Physics is one of the domain subjects in Section II. 

The Physics paper has 50 multiple-choice questions, and all questions are compulsory. The exam is taken online and is 60 minutes in duration. The total marks of the Physics exam are 250 marks. Students wanting to take Physics in CUET should follow the updated syllabus/pattern to prepare well. Below, we have compiled all the latest updates made to the CUET Physics syllabus.

CUET UG Physics Syllabus Topics 2026

To crack CUET UG Physics with confidence, students must start with the most important topics that set the base for success. Tackling these areas first not only sharpens concepts but also gives a smart kickstart to preparation. Instead of struggling alone, students can also join trusted CUET UG Online Coaching, where expert teachers, live interactive sessions, and quick doubt-solving make Physics much simpler. With the right guidance and focused study, scoring high in Physics becomes easier and more exciting than ever.

1. Measurement
2. Motion in one dimension
3. Electrostatics
4. Current Electricity
5. Magnetic Effect of Current
6. Matter
7. Electromagnetic induction
8. Ray Optics and optical instruments
9. Wave Optics
10. Modern Physics
11. Motion in two dimensions
12. Work, Power, and Energy
13. Linear Momentum and Collisions
14. Rotation of a rigid body about a fixed axis
15. Gravitation
16. Oscillatory motion
17. Mechanics of solids and fluids
18. Heat and thermodynamics
19. Wave
20. Laws of Motion

Detailed Unit-Wise CUET UG Physics Syllabus 

Physics is often seen as one of the toughest subjects in the PCM stream. The CUET Physics syllabus includes 10 key units like Atoms & Nuclei, Optics, Electrostatics, Magnetism, Current Electricity, EM Waves, and more. These topics form the base of the exam. Let’s now explore all ten units of the CUET Physics syllabus in detail.

Unit I: Electrostatics

• Electric charges and their conservation. 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 a 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).
• Electric potential, potential difference, electric potential due to a point charge, a dipole, and system of charges; equipotential surfaces, the electrical potential energy of a system of two point charges, and electric dipoles in an electrostatic field.
• Conductors and insulators, free charges, and bound charges inside a conductor. Dielectrics and electric polarization, capacitors, and capacitance, the combination of capacitors in series and in parallel, the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectric medium between the plates, energy stored in a capacitor, Van de Graaff generator.

Unit II: Current Electricity

• Electric current, the flow of electric charges in a metallic conductor, drift velocity and mobility, and their relation with electric current; Ohm’s law, electrical resistance, V-I characteristics (linear and non-linear), electrical energy and power, electrical resistivity, and conductivity.
• Carbon resistors, color code for carbon resistors, series and parallel combinations of resistors, temperature dependence of resistance. The internal resistance of a cell, potential difference, and emf of a cell, combination of cells in series and in parallel.
• Kirchhoff ’s laws and simple applications. Wheatstone bridge, metre bridge. Potentiometer – principle and applications to measure potential difference, and for comparing emf of two cells; measurement of internal resistance of a cell.

Unit III: Magnetic Effect of Current and Magnetism

• Concept of the 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 and toroidal solenoids. Force on a moving charge in uniform magnetic and electric fields. Cyclotron.
• Force on a current-carrying conductor in a uniform magnetic field. The force between two parallel current-carrying conductors – definition of ampere. Torque experienced by a current loop in a magnetic field; moving coil galvanometer – its current sensitivity and conversion to ammeter and voltmeter.
• Current loop as a magnetic dipole and its magnetic dipole moment. The magnetic dipole moment of a revolving electron. Magnetic field intensity due to a magnetic dipole (bar magnet) along its axis and perpendicular to its axis. Torque on a magnetic dipole (bar magnet) in a uniform magnetic field; bar magnet as an equivalent solenoid, magnetic field lines; Earth’s magnetic field and magnetic elements.
• Para-, dia- and ferromagnetic substances, with examples. Electromagnets and factors affecting their strengths. Permanent magnets.

Unit IV: Electromagnetic induction and Alternating currents

Electromagnetic induction; Faraday’s law, induced emf and current; Lenz’s Law, Eddy currents. Self and mutual inductance. Alternating currents, peak and rms value of alternating current/voltage; reactance and impedance; LC oscillations (qualitative treatment only), LCR series circuit, resonance; power in AC circuits, wattless current. AC generator and transformer.

Unit V: Electromagnetic waves

• Need for displacement current. Electromagnetic waves and their characteristics (qualitative ideas only). Transverse nature of electromagnetic waves.
• Electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays), including elementary facts about their uses.

Unit VI: Optics

• Reflection of light, spherical mirrors, and the mirror formula. Refraction of light, total internal reflection, and its applications, optical fibers, refraction at spherical surfaces, lenses, thin lens formula, lens maker's formula. Magnification, power of a lens, a combination of thin lenses in contact, a combination of a lens and a mirror. Refraction and dispersion of light through a prism.
• Scattering of light–blue color of the sky and reddish appearance of the sun at sunrise and sunset.
• Optical instruments: Human eye, image formation and accommodation, correction of eye defects (myopia and hypermetropia) using lenses.
• Microscopes and astronomical telescopes (reflecting and refracting) and their magnifying powers.
• Wave optics: Wavefront and Huygens’ principle, reflection, and refraction of a plane wave at a plane surface using wavefronts.
• Proof of laws of reflection and refraction using Huygens’ principle.
• Interference, Young’s double hole experiment, and expression for fringe width, coherent sources, and sustained interference of light.
• Diffraction due to a single slit, the width of central maximum.
• Resolving the power of microscopes and astronomical telescopes. Polarisation, plane polarised light; Brewster’s law, uses of plane polarised light and Polaroids.

Unit VII: Dual Nature of Matter and Radiation

• Photoelectric effect, Hertz and Lenard’s observations; Einstein’s photoelectric equation – particle nature of light.
• Matter waves – wave nature of particles, de Broglie relation. Davisson-Germer experiment (experimental details should be omitted; only the conclusion should be explained.)

Unit VIII: Atoms and Nuclei

• Alpha-particle scattering experiment; Rutherford’s model of the atom; Bohr model, energy levels, hydrogen spectrum. Composition and size of nucleus, atomic masses, isotopes, isobars, and isotones.
• Radioactivity – alpha, beta, and gamma particles and rays and their properties; radioactive decay law. Mass energy relation, mass defect; binding energy per nucleon and its variation with mass number; nuclear fission and fusion.

Unit IX: Electronic Devices

Energy bands in solids (qualitative ideas only), conductors, insulators, and semiconductors; semiconductor diode – I-V characteristics in forward and reverse bias, diode as a rectifier; I-V characteristics of LED, photodiode, solar cell, and Zener diode; Zener diode as a voltage regulator. Junction transistor, transistor action, characteristics of a transistor; transistor as an amplifier (common emitter configuration) and oscillator. Logic gates (OR, AND, NOT, NAND, and NOR). A transistor as a switch.

Unit X: Communication Systems

Elements of a communication system (block diagram only); bandwidth of signals (speech, TV, and digital data); bandwidth of transmission medium. Propagation of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere, sky, and space wave propagation. Need for modulation. Production and detection of an amplitude-modulated wave.

CUET Physics Exam Pattern for Both PCM and PCB

All the students who have successfully completed their 12th class with the PCM or PCB stream must have now started their preparation for the upcoming CUET UG exams. So this is to inform all the students that before starting their preparation, they must carefully go through the subject-wise CUET syllabus along with the eligibility criteria and CUET Exam Pattern 2026. They can go through the overview of the CUET Physics Exam pattern in the table shared below:

Best Books for CUET UG Physics Preparation

Preparing for CUET UG Physics becomes easier with the right books. The best books cover key concepts, formulas, and practice questions to boost your score. Whether you're revising theories or solving numericals, these books offer complete support. With clear explanations and previous year questions, they make learning effective and simple. Students can check the names of the Best CUET Preparation Books along with their authors below.

• NCERT Physics (Class 11 and 12)
• Concepts of Physics - by H.C. Verma
• Understanding Physics - by D.C. Pandey
• Fundamentals of Physics - by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker
• Problems in General Physics - by I.E. Irodov
• Objective Physics - by D.C. Pandey
• CUET UG Physics Guide - by Arihant Publications