Choosing Physics as your optional subject in the BPSC Mains Examination can be challenging if you do not have a clear understanding of the official syllabus. Without knowing the prescribed topics, it becomes difficult to plan your preparation, prioritise important concepts, and revise effectively.
The BPSC Physics Syllabus 2026 provides a detailed roadmap of the subjects you need to study, covering both fundamental and advanced areas of Physics. Following the syllabus systematically will help you strengthen your conceptual understanding, improve problem-solving skills, and prepare confidently for the optional paper.
BPSC Physics optional syllabus is divided into Section I and Section II, covering a broad range of topics from fundamental principles to advanced concepts in physics. The syllabus is designed to test your conceptual understanding, mathematical approach, and ability to explain scientific phenomena.
Section I focuses on the fundamental areas of physics that explain the behaviour of matter, energy, and motion. As you prepare this section, you will explore topics such as mechanics, conservation laws, thermodynamics, wave motion, oscillations, optics, and relativity. Developing a clear understanding of these concepts, along with regular practice of derivations and numerical problems, will strengthen your analytical and problem-solving skills.
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Section I: Mechanics, Thermal Physics, and Waves & Oscillations |
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Topic |
Key Areas Covered |
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Mechanics |
Conservation laws, collisions, scattering, centre of mass, rigid body dynamics, angular momentum, torque, gyroscope, central force motion, Kepler's laws, satellites, Galilean relativity, special theory of relativity, Lorentz transformation, mass-energy equivalence, fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's equation |
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Thermal Physics |
Laws of thermodynamics, entropy, Carnot cycle, thermodynamic potentials, Maxwell's relations, Clausius-Clapeyron equation, kinetic theory of gases, Maxwell's velocity distribution, Brownian motion, black body radiation, Einstein and Debye theories, Wien's law, Planck's law, stellar spectra, refrigeration, adiabatic demagnetisation, negative temperature |
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Waves and Oscillations |
Simple harmonic motion, damped and forced oscillations, resonance, wave equation, plane and spherical waves, superposition, interference, diffraction, diffraction grating, resolving power, Rayleigh criterion, polarisation, lasers, coherence, holography, Fourier transform, Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction. |
Section II focuses on electromagnetic theory, quantum physics, nuclear physics, and electronic devices. A clear understanding of these topics is essential for solving analytical and application-based questions in the examination.
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Section II: Electricity & Magnetism, Modern Physics, and Electronics |
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Topic |
Key Areas Covered |
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Electricity and Magnetism |
Coulomb's law, electric field, Gauss's law, electric potential, Laplace and Poisson equations, magnetic field, Biot-Savart law, electromagnetic induction, Faraday's law, Lenz's law, alternating current, LCR circuits, resonance, Kirchhoff's laws, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves, Poynting vector, magnetic properties of matter |
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Modern Physics |
Bohr's atomic model, atomic spectra, Stern-Gerlach experiment, Zeeman effect, Pauli exclusion principle, Raman effect, photoelectric effect, Compton effect, de Broglie waves, uncertainty principle, Schrödinger equation, radioactivity, nuclear binding energy, nuclear fission and fusion, particle accelerators, elementary particles, superconductivity |
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Electronics |
Band theory of solids, conductors, semiconductors, intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, P-N junction, Zener diode, thermistors, solar cells, rectifiers, transistor amplifiers, oscillators, modulation, detection, transistor receivers, television, and logic gates |
The right study material can help you understand concepts, practise derivations, and solve numerical problems more effectively. Instead of referring to multiple books for the same topic, focus on a few standard textbooks and revise them consistently.
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Recommended Books for the BPSC Physics Syllabus 2026 |
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Book/Resource |
Author |
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Concepts of Physics (Vol. I & II) |
H.C. Verma |
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Fundamentals of Physics |
Halliday, Resnick & Walker |
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Classical Mechanics |
J.C. Upadhyaya |
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Heat and Thermodynamics |
Brijlal & N. Subrahmanyam |
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Optics |
Ajoy Ghatak |
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Electricity and Magnetism |
D.C. Tayal |
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Modern Physics |
Arthur Beiser |
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Electronic Devices and Circuits |
Jacob Millman & Christos Halkias |
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Mathematical Physics |
B.S. Rajput |
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Previous Years' BPSC & UPSC Physics Optional Papers |
BPSC/UPSC |
The BPSC Physics Syllabus 2026 provides a comprehensive framework for preparing the Physics optional paper in the BPSC Mains Examination. Cover each section systematically, strengthen your conceptual understanding, practise derivations and numerical problems regularly, and revise important formulas consistently.