IB Physics data booklet explained
The IB Physics data booklet is the reference sheet you get in your Physics exams, at SL and HL. It lists the equations and constants for the course, grouped by the five syllabus themes, so you do not need to memorise them. It does not tell you what the symbols mean or when an equation applies: that is what you are examined on.
This page explains what each part of the booklet contains and how to use it. It does not reproduce the booklet. Your school can download the official copy from the IB’s Programme Resource Centre, and you should revise with that copy.
The reference pages at the front
| Section | What is in it | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematical equations | Areas and volumes of common shapes, resolving vectors into components, and trigonometric identities. | Use it when a question needs a geometry step, such as the volume of a wire or the components and of a vector. |
| Uncertainties | How absolute and fractional uncertainties combine when you add, multiply, divide or raise to a power. | Essential for data-based questions in Paper 1B and for your internal assessment. |
| Fundamental constants | Values such as the acceleration of free fall, the gravitational constant, the speed of light, the Planck constant, the elementary charge and particle masses. | Always take constants from here rather than from memory, so your answer matches the markscheme to the right significant figures. |
| Metric (SI) multipliers and unit conversions | Prefixes from peta to femto; conversions for radians, kelvin, light years, parsecs, astronomical units, kilowatt-hours and the value of hc. | Convert to base SI units before you substitute. |
| Electrical circuit symbols and the electromagnetic spectrum | The circuit symbols you are expected to read and draw, and the regions of the EM spectrum by wavelength. | Use the symbols exactly as shown when a question asks you to draw a circuit. |
The equations, theme by theme
The rest of the booklet follows the syllabus: one block for each theme, with the subtopic numbers down the side. Each block has a part for Standard level and higher level, and, where the theme has HL-only content, a separate Additional higher level part.
| Theme | Subtopics | A few of the equations |
|---|---|---|
| A. Space, time and motion | A.1 Kinematics, A.2 Forces and momentum, A.3 Work, energy and power; HL: A.4 Rigid body mechanics, A.5 Galilean and special relativity | , , |
| B. The particulate nature of matter | B.1 Thermal energy transfers, B.2 Greenhouse effect, B.3 Gas laws, B.5 Current and circuits; HL: B.4 Thermodynamics | , |
| C. Wave behaviour | C.1 Simple harmonic motion, C.2 Wave model, C.3 Wave phenomena, C.4 Standing waves and resonance, C.5 Doppler effect | Wave speed, simple harmonic motion and Doppler equations |
| D. Fields | D.1 Gravitational fields, D.2 Electric and magnetic fields, D.3 Motion in electromagnetic fields, D.4 Induction | Field strength, potential and force equations for gravitational, electric and magnetic fields |
| E. Nuclear and quantum physics | E.1 Structure of the atom, E.3 Radioactive decay, E.4 Fission, E.5 Fusion and stars; HL: E.2 Quantum physics | , |
How to use it in the exam
Know where things are before the exam. You lose time hunting through the booklet if you have only used it once or twice; revise with it open, so finding an equation takes seconds.
Learn what every symbol means. The booklet prints but not that is the resultant force, and it gives the Doppler and relativity equations without saying when each one applies. Questions test exactly that.
Check whether you need the HL part. At SL you are only examined on the Standard level and higher level parts; equations in the Additional higher level parts will not come up in SL papers.
Show the equation you used. Writing the booklet equation, then substituting values with units, earns method marks even if the final answer is wrong.