IB Physics SL - 2024

IB Physics at Standard Level is a challenging physics course providing a survey of the most important concepts and skills for understanding our physical world. Students will develop their quantitative reasoning, analysis, and experimental skills over the course of the program, which will typically be taught over the course of two years.

Questionbank

All the questions you could need! Sorted by topic and arranged by difficulty, with mark schemes and video solutions for every question.

Practice Exams

Choose your revision tool! Contains topic quizzes for focused study, Revision Village mock exams covering the whole syllabus, and the revision ladder to precisely target your learning.

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Key Concepts

Helpful refreshers summarizing exactly what you need to know about the most important concepts covered in the course.

Past Papers

Full worked solutions to all past paper questions, taught by experienced IB instructors.

Course Structure and Content

SL Physics students will examine a variety of topics within physics, designed to lay the foundation for future scientific and engineering studies. These core topics include Measurements & Uncertainties, Mechanics, Thermal Physics, Oscillations & Waves, Electricity & Magnetism, Circular Motion & Gravitation, Atomic & Nuclear Physics, and Energy Production. Additionally, students will explore the material from a single Option, chosen among the following: Relativity, Engineering Physics, Optics, and Astrophysics.

At the end of the Standard Level Physics IB course, students will sit three examinations, or Papers. Paper 1 consists of 30 multiple-choice questions across all of the core content. Paper 2 includes 50 marking points of short answer and extended response questions, also evaluating students' ability to engage in essential conceptual and quantitative reasoning regarding the entire syllabus. Finally, there are two sections within Paper 3: Section A, consisting of short answer questions regarding practical experimentation and data analysis, and Section B, consisting of short answer and extended response questions regarding the chosen Option. Students need to answer questions from only one Option.

New Science Syllabus

Starting with the May 2025 cohort, all students in IB Physics will undertake their IB Physics studies under a new syllabus and curriculum. On the new syllabus, both SL and HL students will study similar but not identical content with a new curricular structure. Additionally, there will be no Option, although understandings and skills from the previous Options have been moved into the main syllabus. Paper 3 has been eliminated, and Paper 1 will contain a new section of data-based questions similar to Section A of the old Paper 3.

Revision Village will soon be launching a separate course with materials exactly aligned with the new IB SL Physics syllabus, first examinations May 2025!

Tips for Success

Revise consistently! There is no better way to ensure success in an extended, content-rich program like IB SL Physics than to study a little each and every day in a deliberate, focused manner. Try using the Questionbank or the Popular Quizzes to specifically target content areas.
Find your level, and work from there! You can use the difficulty ratings on questions within the Questionbank and tools like the Revision Ladder to determine your current knowledge level and increase it, step by step.
Use your resources! When you encounter difficulty answering a question, make sure to use the written markscheme, video solution, and NewtonAI to address your questions and plug specific gaps in your understanding.