As described by on the IB website, among the IB Physics standards are several prescribed lab practicals. One or more of these lab practicals appear in questions in the Paper 3 external assessment. As such, it is important to plan around them.
For most of the prescribed practicals listed below, you will find a Vernier lab activity that matches well, as well as the required sensors and equipment to perform the investigation. For some practicals, there may be multiple sensors or lab activities available. For others, there may not be a Vernier lab that matches up exactly, so you will find some suggested sensors to perform your own investigation.
Determining the acceleration of free-fall (Topic 2.1)
Suggested Lab Activity: Picket Fence Free Fall from Physics with Vernier
Sensor(s)/Equipment:
- Photogate (VPG-BTD) or Go Direct® Photogate (GDX-VPG)
- Picket Fence (PF)
Suggested Lab Activity: Determining g on an Incline from Physics with Vernier
Sensor/Equipment:
- Dynamics Cart and Track System with Go Direct® Sensor Carts (DTS-GDX) or Dynamics Cart and Track System with Motion Encoder (DTS-EC)
You may also consider investigating free fall using our video analysis software, Logger Pro 3, Video Physics for iOS, or Vernier Video Analysis.
Applying the calorimetric techniques of specific heat capacity or specific latent heat (Topic 3.1)
Suggested Lab Activity: Heat of Fusion of Ice from Chemistry with Vernier
Sensor/Equipment:
- Stainless Steel Temperature Probe (TMP-BTA) or Go Direct® Temperature Probe (GDX-TMP)
Investigating at least one gas law (Topic 3.2)
Suggested Lab Activity: Boyle’s Law: Pressure-Volume Relationship in Gases from Chemistry with Vernier
Sensor/Equipment:
- Gas Pressure Sensor (GPS-BTA) or Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor (GDX-GP)
Suggested Lab Activity: Pressure-Temperature Relationship in Gases from Chemistry with Vernier
Sensor/Equipment:
- Stainless Steel Temperature Probe (TMP-BTA) or Go Direct® Temperature Probe (GDX-TMP)
- Gas Pressure Sensor (GPS-BTA) or Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor (GDX-GP)
Suggested Lab Activity: Behavior of a Gas from Advanced Physics – Beyond Mechanics
Sensor/Equipment:
- Stainless Steel Temperature Probe (TMP-BTA) or Go Direct® Temperature Probe (GDX-TMP)
- Gas Pressure Sensor (GPS-BTA) or Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor (GDX-GP)
Investigating the speed of sound (Topic 4.2)
Suggested Lab Activity: Speed of Sound from Physics with Vernier
Sensor/Equipment:
- Microphone (MCA-BTA) or Go Direct® Sound Sensor (GDX-SND)
- (optional) Stainless Steel Temperature Probe (TMP-BTA) or Go Direct® Temperature Probe (GDX-TMP)
Determining refractive index (Topic 4.4)
Suggested Lab Activity: Snell’s Law of Refraction from Physics with Video Analysis
Sensor/Equipment:
- Logger Pro™ 3 (LP)
Investigating one or more of the factors that affect resistance (Topic 5.2)
Suggested Lab Activity: Factors Affecting Electrical Resistance from Advanced Physics – Beyond Mechanics
Sensor/Equipment:
- Instrumentation Amplifier (INA-BTA) or Go Direct® Voltage Probe (GDX-VOLT)
- Resistivity Rod Set (RRS)
- (optional) Current Probe (DCP-BTA) or Go Direct® Current Probe (GDX-CUR)
- You need a power supply, like the Extech Digital DC Power Supply (EXPS) or Power Amplifier (PAMP).
Determining internal resistance (Topic 5.3)
Suggested Lab Activity: None, but the following sensors and equipment could be used for such an investigation:
Sensor/Equipment:
- Differential Voltage Probe (DVP-BTA) or Go Direct® Voltage Probe (GDX-VOLT)
- Current Probe (DCP-BTA) or Go Direct® Current Probe (GDX-CUR)
- Vernier Circuit Board 2 (VCB2) or similar
Investigating half-life (Topic 7.1)
Suggested Lab Activity: Lifetime Measurement from Nuclear Radiation with Vernier
Sensor/Equipment:
- Vernier Radiation Monitor (VRM-BTD) or Go Direct® Radiation Monitor (GDX-RAD)
- You need a radioactive source, such as barium-137.
Investigating Young’s double-slit (Topic 9.3, Higher Level only)
Suggested Lab Activity: Interference from Advanced Physics – Beyond Mechanics
Sensor/Equipment:
- Diffraction Apparatus (DAK)
- Combination Track/Optics Bench (TRACK)
Investigating a diode bridge rectification (Topic 11.2, Higher Level only)
Suggested Lab Activity: None, but the following sensors and equipment could be used for such an investigation:
Sensor/Equipment:
- Current Probe (DCP-BTA) or Go Direct® Current Probe (GDX-CUR) and/or Differential Voltage Probe (DVP-BTA) or Go Direct® Voltage Probe (GDX-VOLT)
- Power Amplifier (PAMP) to generate a AC current
- You will also need the materials to construct a diode bridge (diodes, breadboard, etc.).
You can find a complete list of suggested sensors, equipment, and lab books for an IB Physics curriculum here.