30 Astonishing Ideas for your perfect Physics IA

We understand that choosing a relevant topic, especially when you have to relate it to our IBDP Physics Syllabus, is no easy task. You are not alone and are undoubtedly stressed by the prospect of finding a great topic that is both strong and high-scoring.

Keeping in mind the independent and dependent variables let’s understand the technique to get it right.

In this article, you will find some brilliant ideas that you can consider for your IB Physics Internal Assessment which are not only scoring but interesting to investigate as well.

Mechanics:

• How does the cross-sectional area of a toy helicopter's blades affect the lift force?
• What effect does a football's cross-sectional area have on its terminal velocity?
• In a toy boat, how does the angle of the sail affect the initial acceleration?
• What effect does the sail's cross-sectional area have on the initial acceleration of a toy boat?
• What effect does a shuttle cock's cross-sectional area have on its projection range?
• What effect does a football's radius have on its impulse when kicked?
• How does the height of a ramp affect the time taken for a cylinder to roll down the ramp?
• What effect does add mass to an inflated balloon have on the falling balloon's final velocity?
• What effect does the mass has on the speed of the body on a zipliner?

Thermal Physics:

• How does the temperature impact the elastic band's range of flight?
• What effect does temperature have on the sound speed of a solid? What effect does temperature have on fluid viscosity?
• What effect does temperature have on the Young Modulus of a copper wire?
• What effect does salt concentration in water have on particular cardiac capacity?
• What effect does temperature have on the bouncing ball's restitution?

Waves:

• What effect does temperature have on a spring's spring constant?
• What effect does sugar concentration have on water's refractive index?
• What influence does a string's diameter have on its fundamental frequency?
• What effect does the amount of water in a board of wood have on the Young modulus?
• In SHM, how does the cross-sectional area of a cardboard damper affect the spring's damping coefficient?
• What effect does the angle of a pendulum's initial release have on the subsequent calculation of 'g' from the pendulum?
• What effect does human hair thickness have on the Young Modulus?
• How is the period of oscillation of a solid sphere on a curved track affected by the radius of the solid sphere?

Electricity:

• What effect does temperature have on a battery's internal resistance?
• What effect does the number of coils have on an electric motor's efficiency?
• How does the strength of a magnet's magnetic field affect the efficiency of an electric motor?
• How does the magnetic field strength of magnets affect the efficiency of an electric motor?
• How does the diameter of the coil on a battery copper coil train affect the speed of the train?
• What are the different properties of light-dependent resistors?

Energy Production:

• What effect does the paddle area of a waterwheel have on its efficiency when converting mechanical energy to electrical energy?
• What effect does temperature have on a transformer's efficiency?

Disclaimer:

• The topics suggested in this article are only for the motivational purpose and to give students some ideas of how you can link some real-world investigations with your IB Physics Internal Assessment to score a good grade. 
• Choose a topic that meets the IB syllabus criteria.
• Do not just copy-paste from the list mentioned. 
• Always consult your instructor before finalizing any topic.
• Try coming up with your creative idea for investigating a particular topic.