Elite Scholars

Physical Sciences Grade 12

This is every topic in the CAPS Physical Sciences curriculum for Grade 12, 17 in total, organised by content strand, the way the Department divides the subject. It is the same curriculum your school teaches from, and the same one the NSC examines.

Mechanics

3 topics · 17.50%

28 teaching hours in CAPS

  • Momentum and impulse: Newton’s second law in terms of momentum, conservation of momentum, elastic and inelastic collisions
  • Vertical projectile motion in one dimension, in words, diagrams, equations and graphs
  • Work, energy and power: the work-energy theorem and conservation of energy with non-conservative forces

Waves, Sound and Light

2 topics · 3.75%

6 teaching hours in CAPS

  • The Doppler Effect with sound and ultrasound, for a moving source or a moving observer
  • The Doppler Effect with light: red shifts in the universe

Electricity and Magnetism

2 topics · 7.50%

12 teaching hours in CAPS

  • Electric circuits: internal resistance and series-parallel networks
  • Electrodynamics: generators, motors and alternating current

Matter and Materials

4 topics · 11.5% Chemistry and 3.75% Physics

16 teaching hours in CAPS

  • Optical phenomena and properties of materials: the photo-electric effect, emission and absorption spectra
  • Organic chemistry: functional groups, saturated and unsaturated structures, isomers, naming and formulae
  • Physical properties and chemical reactions: substitution, addition and elimination
  • Organic macromolecules: plastics and polymers

Chemical Change

4 topics · 17.50%

28 teaching hours in CAPS

  • Reaction rate: factors affecting rate, measuring rate, and the mechanism of reaction and catalysis
  • Chemical equilibrium: factors affecting it, the equilibrium constant, and applying equilibrium principles
  • Acids and bases: reactions, titrations, pH and salt hydrolysis
  • Electrochemical reactions: electrolytic and galvanic cells, standard electrode potentials, and redox applications

Chemical Systems

1 topic · 3.5%

6 teaching hours in CAPS

  • The chemical industry: the fertiliser industry

Skills for practical investigations

1 topic

4 teaching hours in CAPS

  • Skills for practical investigations in physics and chemistry

Knowing the topics is the easy part

The list above is public. It is what your teacher works from. What it does not do is explain a topic you are stuck on, show you a worked example, or tell you which mistakes cost marks in the exam. That is what an Elite Scholars account is for: study notes written against these exact topics, past papers, and tools that show their working.

See how we help

Source: CAPS FET Physical Sciences, Grades 10-12, Department of Basic Education, checked on 2026-08-05. Schools sequence topics differently within a year, so treat this as what is examined rather than the order your class will meet it in.

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