IB Physics develops in students an appreciation for the the most fundamental of the experimental sciences. Through studying a science subject students should become aware of how scientists work and communicate with each other. While the scientific method may take on a wide variety of forms, the emphasis is on a practical approach. Physics is taught practically.
There are 2 levels offered for the IB Diploma programme – Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL). Our experienced tutors will walk you through the key concepts as well as applications in examples. Our course structure for the 2 levels can be found below. Check them out!
Standard Level
| Sessions for core curriculum (shared by both SL and HL): | ||
| Session | Topics | Subtopics |
| 1 | Measurements and uncertainties | Uncertainties and errors, vectors and scalars |
| Mechanics I | Motion, forces, momentum | |
| Mechanics II | Work, energy, power | |
| Thermal physics | Temperature and energy changes, modelling a gas | |
| 2 | Oscillations and waves | Oscillations, travelling waves, wave characteristics and behaviour, standing waves |
| Circular motion and gravitation | Circular motion, Newton’s law of gravitation | |
| 3 | Electricity and magnetism | Electric fields, heating effect of an electric current, electric cells, magnetic effects of electric currents |
| Thermal physics | Temperature and energy changes, modelling a gas | |
| 4 | Energy production | Energy sources, thermal energy transfer |
| Atomic. Nuclear and particle physics | Discrete energy and radioactivity, nuclear reactions, the structure of matter | |
| Sessions for option curriculum (Both SL and HL pick one): | ||
| Session | Topic | Subtopics |
| A | Relativity | Lorentz transformations, spacetime diagrams, relativistic mechanics, general relativity |
| B | Engineering physics | Rigid bodies and rotational dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, forced vibrations and resonance |
| C | Imaging | Imaging instrumentation, fibre optics |
| D | Astrophysics | Stellar quantities, stellar characteristics/evolution/processes, cosmology |
Higher Level
IB Physics HL Course Structure
| Sessions for core curriculum (shared by both SL and HL): | ||
| Session | Topics | Subtopics |
| 1 | Measurements and uncertainties | Uncertainties and errors, vectors and scalars |
| Mechanics I | Motion, forces, momentum | |
| Mechanics II | Work, energy, power | |
| Thermal physics | Temperature and energy changes, modelling a gas | |
| 2 | Oscillations and waves | Oscillations, travelling waves, wave characteristics and behaviour, standing waves |
| Circular motion and gravitation | Circular motion, Newton’s law of gravitation | |
| 3 | Electricity and magnetism | Electric fields, heating effect of an electric current, electric cells, magnetic effects of electric currents |
| Thermal physics | Temperature and energy changes, modelling a gas | |
| 4 | Energy production | Energy sources, thermal energy transfer |
| Atomic. Nuclear and particle physics | Discrete energy and radioactivity, nuclear reactions, the structure of matter | |
| Sessions for AHL curriculum (HL students only): | ||
| Session | Topics | Subtopics |
| 1 | Fields | Describing fields, fields at work |
| Electromagnetic induction | Electromagnetic induction, power generation and transmission, capacitance | |
| 2 | Wave phenomena | Simple harmonic motion, single-slit diffraction, interference, resolution, The Doppler effect |
| Quantum and nuclear physics | Interaction of matter with radiation, nuclear physics | |
| Sessions for option curriculum (Both SL and HL pick one): | ||
| Session | Topic | Subtopics |
| A | Relativity | Lorentz transformations, spacetime diagrams, relativistic mechanics, general relativity |
| B | Engineering physics | Rigid bodies and rotational dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, forced vibrations and resonance |
| C | Imaging | Imaging instrumentation, fibre optics |
| D | Astrophysics | Stellar quantities, stellar characteristics/evolution/processes, cosmology |
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