IB DP Physics HL & SL Syllabus Download

IB Physics is no different today compared to what it used to be earlier. IB Physics SL or HL topic, I was always afraid about this, but trust me that you can score well in Physics SL or HL topics if you have made a plan for yourself.

I have students with terrible scores and the same students with great scores later. It's your methodology that will make a difference which will reflect in your grades.

Below are the topics to be covered in IB SL and HL levels, including the optional ones to choose from. More or less you have common topics in Physics HL and SL with some add-on topics at HL level.

IB DP Physics Standard Level Syllabus 

SL (Standard Level) consists of 8 Topics in 150 hours.

Guide for IBDP Physics Standard Level Syllabus

IB DP Physics Higher Level Syllabus 

HL (Higher Level) consists of 8 + 4 = 12 Topics in 240 hours. (HL includes SL syllabus and 4 more additional topics)

Guide for IBDP Physics Higher Level Syllabus

Optional IB Physics Topics 

Your teacher or you will choose to cover 3 or 4 topics (15 hours total) for SL and an additional 2 or 3 topics (25 hours total) for HL.

The Complete IB Physics HL & SL Syllabus in detail with sub-topics explained below:

IB Physics SL and HL Syllabus

Physics SL Topics 

Get Free IB Trial Session Download IB eBook

Guide for IBDP Physics SL and HL

Topic 1: Measurements and Uncertainties

Measurements in physics

• Fundamental and derived SI units
• Scientific notation and metric multipliers
• Significant figures
• Orders of magnitude
• Estimation

Uncertainties and errors

• Random and systematic errors
• Absolute, fractional and percentage uncertainties
• Error bars
• Uncertainty of gradient and intercepts

Vectors and scalars

• Vector and scalar quantities
• Combination and resolution of vectors

Topic 2: Mechanics (22 Hours)

Motion

• Distance and displacement
• Speed and velocity
• Acceleration
• Graphs describing motion
• Equations of motion for uniform acceleration
• Projectile motion
• Fluid resistance and terminal speed

Forces

• Objects as point particles
• Free-body diagrams
• Translational equilibrium
• Newton’s laws of motion
• Solid friction 

Work, energy and power

• Kinetic energy
• Gravitational potential energy
• Elastic potential energy
• Work done as energy transfer
• Power as rate of energy transfer
• Principle of conservation of energy
• Efficiency

Momentum and impulse

• Newton’s second law expressed in terms of rate of change of momentum
• Impulse and force–time graphs
• Conservation of linear momentum
• Elastic collisions, inelastic collisions and explosions 

Topic 3: Thermal Physics (11 Hours)

Thermal concepts

• Molecular theory of solids, liquids and gases
• Temperature and absolute temperature
• Internal energy
• Specific heat capacity
• Phase change
• Specific latent heat

Modelling a gas

• Pressure
• Equation of state for an ideal gas
• Kinetic model of an ideal gas
• Mole, molar mass and the Avogadro constant
• Differences between real and ideal gases

Topic 4: Waves (15 Hours)

Oscillations

• Simple harmonic oscillations
• Time period, frequency, amplitude, displacement and phase difference
• Conditions for simple harmonic motion

Travelling waves

• Travelling waves
• Wavelength, frequency, period and wave speed
• Transverse and longitudinal waves
• The nature of electromagnetic waves
• The nature of sound waves

Wave characteristics

• Wavefronts and rays
• Amplitude and intensity
• Superposition
• Polarization 

Wave behaviour

• Reflection and refraction
• Snell’s law, critical angle and total internal reflection
• Diffraction through a single-slit and around objects
• Interference patterns
• Double-slit interference
• Path difference

Standing waves

• The nature of standing waves
• Boundary conditions
• Nodes and antinodes

Topic 5: Electricity and Magnetism (15 Hours)

Electric fields

• Charge
• Electric field
• Coulomb’s law
• Electric current
• Direct current (dc)
• Potential difference

Heating effect of electric currents

• Circuit diagrams
• Kirchhoff’s circuit laws
• Heating effect of current and its consequences
• Resistance expressed as R = V/I
• Ohm’s law
• Resistivity
• Power dissipation

Electric cells 

• Cells
• Internal resistance
• Secondary cells
• Terminal potential difference
• Electromotive force 

Magnetic effects of electric currents

• Magnetic fields
• Magnetic force

Topic 6: Circular Motion and Gravitation (5 Hours)

Circular motion

• Period, frequency, angular displacement and angular velocity
• Centripetal force
• Centripetal acceleration

Newton’s law of gravitation

• Newton’s law of gravitation
• Gravitational field strength

Topic 7: Atomic, Nuclear and Particle Physics (14 Hours)

Discrete energy and radioactivity

• Discrete energy and discrete energy levels
• Transitions between energy levels
• Radioactive decay
• Fundamental forces and their properties
• Alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays
• Half-life
• Absorption characteristics of decay particles
• Isotopes
• Background radiation

Nuclear reactions

• The unified atomic mass unit
• Mass defect and nuclear binding energy
• Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion

The structure of matter 

• Quarks, leptons and their antiparticles
• Hadrons, baryons and mesons
• The conservation laws of charge, baryon number, lepton number and strangeness
• The nature and range of the strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force and electromagnetic force
• Exchange particles
• Feynman diagrams
• Confinement
• The Higgs boson 

Topic 8: Energy Production (8 Hours)

Energy sources

• Specific energy and energy density of fuel sources
• Sankey diagrams
• Primary energy sources
• Electricity as a secondary and versatile form of energy
• Renewable and non-renewable energy sources

Thermal energy transfer

• Conduction, convection and thermal radiation
• Black-body radiation
• Albedo and emissivity
• The solar constant
• The greenhouse effect
• Energy balance in the Earth surface–atmosphere system

Physics HL Topics

Get Free IB Trial Session Download IB eBook

Topic 1: Measurements and Uncertainties

Measurements in physics

• Fundamental and derived SI units
• Scientific notation and metric multipliers
• Significant figures
• Orders of magnitude
• Estimation

Uncertainties and errors

• Random and systematic errors
• Absolute, fractional and percentage uncertainties
• Error bars
• Uncertainty of gradient and intercepts

Vectors and scalars

• Vector and scalar quantities
• Combination and resolution of vectors

Topic 2: Mechanics (22 Hours)

Motion

• Distance and displacement
• Speed and velocity
• Acceleration
• Graphs describing motion
• Equations of motion for uniform acceleration
• Projectile motion
• Fluid resistance and terminal speed

Forces

• Objects as point particles
• Free-body diagrams
• Translational equilibrium
• Newton’s laws of motion
• Solid friction 

Work, energy and power

• Kinetic energy
• Gravitational potential energy
• Elastic potential energy
• Work done as energy transfer
• Power as rate of energy transfer
• Principle of conservation of energy
• Efficiency

Momentum and impulse

• Newton’s second law expressed in terms of rate of change of momentum
• Impulse and force–time graphs
• Conservation of linear momentum
• Elastic collisions, inelastic collisions and explosions 

Topic 3: Thermal Physics (11 Hours)

Thermal concepts

• Molecular theory of solids, liquids and gases
• Temperature and absolute temperature
• Internal energy
• Specific heat capacity
• Phase change
• Specific latent heat

Modelling a gas

• Pressure
• Equation of state for an ideal gas
• Kinetic model of an ideal gas
• Mole, molar mass and the Avogadro constant
• Differences between real and ideal gases

Topic 4: Waves (15 Hours)

Oscillations

• Simple harmonic oscillations
• Time period, frequency, amplitude, displacement and phase difference
• Conditions for simple harmonic motion

Travelling waves

• Travelling waves
• Wavelength, frequency, period and wave speed
• Transverse and longitudinal waves
• The nature of electromagnetic waves
• The nature of sound waves

Wave characteristics

• Wavefronts and rays
• Amplitude and intensity
• Superposition
• Polarization 

Wave behaviour

• Reflection and refraction
• Snell’s law, critical angle and total internal reflection
• Diffraction through a single-slit and around objects
• Interference patterns
• Double-slit interference
• Path difference

Standing waves

• The nature of standing waves
• Boundary conditions
• Nodes and antinodes

Topic 5: Electricity and Magnetism (15 Hours)

Electric fields

• Charge
• Electric field
• Coulomb’s law
• Electric current
• Direct current (dc)
• Potential difference

Heating effect of electric currents

• Circuit diagrams
• Kirchhoff’s circuit laws
• Heating effect of current and its consequences
• Resistance expressed as R = V/I
• Ohm’s law
• Resistivity
• Power dissipation

Electric cells 

• Cells
• Internal resistance
• Secondary cells
• Terminal potential difference
• Electromotive force 

Magnetic effects of electric currents

• Magnetic fields
• Magnetic force

Topic 6: Circular Motion and Gravitation (5 Hours)

Circular motion

• Period, frequency, angular displacement and angular velocity
• Centripetal force
• Centripetal acceleration

Newton’s law of gravitation

• Newton’s law of gravitation
• Gravitational field strength

Topic 7: Atomic, Nuclear and Particle Physics (14 Hours)

Discrete energy and radioactivity

• Discrete energy and discrete energy levels
• Transitions between energy levels
• Radioactive decay
• Fundamental forces and their properties
• Alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays
• Half-life
• Absorption characteristics of decay particles
• Isotopes
• Background radiation

Nuclear reactions

• The unified atomic mass unit
• Mass defect and nuclear binding energy
• Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion

The structure of matter 

• Quarks, leptons and their antiparticles
• Hadrons, baryons and mesons
• The conservation laws of charge, baryon number, lepton number and strangeness
• The nature and range of the strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force and electromagnetic force
• Exchange particles
• Feynman diagrams
• Confinement
• The Higgs boson 

Topic 8: Energy Production (8 Hours)

Energy sources

• Specific energy and energy density of fuel sources
• Sankey diagrams
• Primary energy sources
• Electricity as a secondary and versatile form of energy
• Renewable and non-renewable energy sources

Thermal energy transfer

• Conduction, convection and thermal radiation
• Black-body radiation
• Albedo and emissivity
• The solar constant
• The greenhouse effect
• Energy balance in the Earth surface–atmosphere system

Topic 9: Wave Phenomena (17 Hours)

Simple harmonic motion

• The defining equation of SHM
• Energy changes

Single-slit diffraction

• The nature of single-slit diffraction

Interference 

• Young’s double-slit experiment
• Modulation of two-slit interference pattern by one-slit diffraction effect
• Multiple slit and diffraction grating interference patterns
• Thin film interference

Resolution 

• The size of a diffracting aperture
• The resolution of simple monochromatic two-source systems

Doppler effect 

• The Doppler effect for sound waves and light waves

Topic 10: Fields (11 Hours)

Describing fields

• Gravitational fields
• Electrostatic fields
• Electric potential and gravitational potential
• Field lines
• Equipotential surfaces

Fields at work

• Potential and potential energy  
• Potential gradient
• Potential difference
• Escape speed
• Orbital motion, orbital speed and orbital energy
• Forces and inverse-square law behaviour

Topic 11: Electromagnetic Induction (16 Hours)

Electromagnetic induction 

• Electromotive force (emf)
• Magnetic flux and magnetic flux linkage
• Faraday’s law of induction
• Lenz’s law

Power generation and transmission

• Alternating current (ac) generators
• Average power and root mean square (rms) values of current and voltage
• Transformers
• Diode bridges
• Half-wave and full-wave rectification

Capacitance

• Capacitance
• Dielectric materials
• Capacitors in series and parallel
• Resistor-capacitor (RC) series circuits
• Time constant

Topic 12: Quantum and Nuclear Physics (16 Hours)

The interaction of matter with radiation 

• Photons
• The photoelectric effect
• Matter waves
• Pair production and pair annihilation
• Quantization of angular momentum in the Bohr model for hydrogen
• The wave function
• The uncertainty principle for energy and time and position and momentum
• Tunnelling, potential barrier and factors affecting tunnelling probability

Nuclear physics

• Rutherford scattering and nuclear radius
• Nuclear energy levels
• The neutrino
• The law of radioactive decay and the decay constant

Optional Physics Topics

As a part of IB Physics curriculum, you need to choose from the Optional Physics topics which are listed below. You will be spending approx 15 hours here in Physics IB Optional topics. 

Option 1: Relativity (15 Hours)

The beginnings of relativity

• Reference frames
• Galilean relativity and Newton’s postulates concerning time and space
• Maxwell and the constancy of the speed of light
• Forces on a charge or current

Lorentz transformations

• The two postulates of special relativity
• Clock synchronization
• The Lorentz transformations
• Velocity addition
• Invariant quantities (spacetime interval, proper time, proper length and rest mass)
• Time dilation
• Length contraction
• The muon decay experiment

Spacetime diagrams

• Spacetime diagrams

Option 2: Engineering Physics (15 Hours)

Rigid bodies and rotational dynamics

• Torque
• Moment of inertia
• Rotational and translational equilibrium
• Angular acceleration
• Equations of rotational motion for uniform angular acceleration
• Newton’s second law applied to angular motion
• Conservation of angular momentum

Thermodynamics

• The first law of thermodynamics
• The second law of thermodynamics
• Entropy
• Cyclic processes and pV diagrams
• Isovolumetric, isobaric, isothermal and adiabatic processes
• Carnot cycle
• Thermal efficiency

Fluids and fluid dynamics 

• Density and pressure
• Buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle
• Pascal’s principle
• Hydrostatic equilibrium
• The ideal fluid
• Streamlines
• The continuity equation
• The Bernoulli equation and the Bernoulli effect
• Stokes’ law and viscosity
• Laminar and turbulent flow and the Reynolds number

Forced vibrations and resonance 

• Natural frequency of vibration
• Q factor and damping
• Periodic stimulus and the driving frequency
• Resonance 

Option 3: Imaging (15 Hours)

Introduction to imaging

• Thin lenses
• Converging and diverging lenses
• Converging and diverging mirrors
• Ray diagrams
• Real and virtual images
• Linear and angular magnification
• Spherical and chromatic aberrations

Imaging instrumentation

• Optical compound microscopes
• Simple optical astronomical refracting telescopes
• Simple optical astronomical reflecting telescopes
• Single-dish radio telescopes
• Radio interferometry telescopes
• Satellite-borne telescopes

Fibre optics

• Structure of optic fibres
• Step-index fibres and graded-index fibres
• Total internal reflection and critical angle
• Waveguide and material dispersion in optic fibres
• Attenuation and the decibel (dB) scale

Option 4: Astrophysics (15 Hours)

Stellar quantities

• Objects in the universe
• The nature of stars
• Astronomical distances
• Stellar parallax and its limitations
• Luminosity and apparent brightness

Stellar characteristics and stellar evolution

• Stellar spectra
• Hertzsprung–Russell (HR) diagram
• Mass–luminosity relation for main sequence stars
• Cepheid variables
• Stellar evolution on HR diagrams
• Red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes
• Chandrasekhar and Oppenheimer–Volkoff limits

Cosmology

• The Big Bang model
• Cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation
• Hubble’s law
• The accelerating universe and redshift (z)
• The cosmic scale factor (R)