IB Physics data booklet and formula booklet (2025)

This page covers IB Diploma Programme Physics SL and HL, first assessment 2025 (the guide published February 2023). It is CuratedPrep's own organised list of the equations in the booklet students use in class and exams, followed by the relationships you must still know. Rows marked HL only are examined at Higher Level only; every other row is SL and HL.

Board	Official document
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Physics (first assessment 2025)	Physics data booklet, first assessment 2025, version 1.0 (IB)

In the booklet means the formula is printed in the official booklet or sheet in the exam; Learn it means students must recall it.

Mathematics and uncertainties

Printed at the front of the booklet and used in every theme.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Area of a triangleb base, h perpendicular heightIn the booklet	$A = \frac{1}{2} bh$	In the booklet
Area of a circler radiusIn the booklet	$A = π r^{2}$	In the booklet
Circumference of a circleIn the booklet	$C = 2 π r$	In the booklet
Volume of a cuboidIn the booklet	$V = lw h$	In the booklet
Volume of a cylinderIn the booklet	$V = π r^{2} h$	In the booklet
Volume of a prismA area of cross-section, h lengthIn the booklet	$V = A h$	In the booklet
Volume of a sphereIn the booklet	$V = \frac{4}{3} π r^{3}$	In the booklet
Curved surface area of a cylinderIn the booklet	$A = 2 π r h$	In the booklet
Horizontal component of a vectorθ is the angle to the horizontalIn the booklet	$A_{H} = A cos θ$	In the booklet
Vertical component of a vectorIn the booklet	$A_{V} = A sin θ$	In the booklet
Tangent in terms of sine and cosineIn the booklet	$tan θ = \frac{s i n θ}{c o s θ}$	In the booklet
Pythagorean identityIn the booklet	$sin^{2} θ + cos^{2} θ = 1$	In the booklet
Uncertainty in a sum or differenceAdd absolute uncertaintiesIn the booklet	$y = a \pm b \Rightarrow Δ y = Δ a + Δ b$	In the booklet
Uncertainty in a product or quotientAdd fractional (or percentage) uncertaintiesIn the booklet	$y = \frac{ab}{c} \Rightarrow \frac{Δ y}{y} = \frac{Δ a}{a} + \frac{Δ b}{b} + \frac{Δ c}{c}$	In the booklet
Uncertainty in a powerMultiply the fractional uncertainty by the powerIn the booklet	$y = a^{n} \Rightarrow \frac{Δ y}{y} = ∣ n ∣ \frac{Δ a}{a}$	In the booklet

Fundamental constants

Approximate values as printed in the booklet; use these in calculations unless a question gives others.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Acceleration of free fallEarth's surfaceIn the booklet	$g = 9.8 m s^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Gravitational constantIn the booklet	$G = 6.67 \times 1 0^{- 11} N m^{2} kg^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Avogadro constantIn the booklet	$N_{A} = 6.02 \times 1 0^{23} mol^{- 1}$	In the booklet
Gas constantIn the booklet	$R = 8.31 J K^{- 1} mol^{- 1}$	In the booklet
Boltzmann constantIn the booklet	$k_{B} = 1.38 \times 1 0^{- 23} J K^{- 1}$	In the booklet
Stefan-Boltzmann constantIn the booklet	$σ = 5.67 \times 1 0^{- 8} W m^{- 2} K^{- 4}$	In the booklet
Coulomb constantIn the booklet	$k = 8.99 \times 1 0^{9} N m^{2} C^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Permittivity of free spaceIn the booklet	$ε_{0} = 8.85 \times 1 0^{- 12} C^{2} N^{- 1} m^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Permeability of free spaceIn the booklet	$μ_{0} = 4 π \times 1 0^{- 7} T m A^{- 1}$	In the booklet
Speed of light in vacuumIn the booklet	$c = 3.00 \times 1 0^{8} m s^{- 1}$	In the booklet
Planck constantIn the booklet	$h = 6.63 \times 1 0^{- 34} J s$	In the booklet
Elementary chargeIn the booklet	$e = 1.60 \times 1 0^{- 19} C$	In the booklet
Electron rest massIn the booklet	$m_{e} = 9.110 \times 1 0^{- 31} kg = 0.000549 u = 0.511 MeV c^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Proton rest massIn the booklet	$m_{p} = 1.673 \times 1 0^{- 27} kg = 1.007276 u = 938 MeV c^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Neutron rest massIn the booklet	$m_{n} = 1.675 \times 1 0^{- 27} kg = 1.008665 u = 940 MeV c^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Unified atomic mass unitIn the booklet	$1 u = 1.661 \times 1 0^{- 27} kg = 931.5 MeV c^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Solar constantIntensity of sunlight at the top of Earth's atmosphereIn the booklet	$S = 1.36 \times 1 0^{3} W m^{- 2}$	In the booklet
Fermi radiusUsed in the nuclear radius relationship (HL)In the booklet	$R_{0} = 1.20 \times 1 0^{- 15} m$	In the booklet

Unit conversions

Also in the booklet: the metric (SI) prefix table from peta (10¹⁵) to femto (10⁻¹⁵), the electrical circuit symbols and the electromagnetic spectrum chart.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Radians and degreesIn the booklet	$1 rad = \frac{18 0 ^{\circ}}{π}$	In the booklet
Kelvin and CelsiusIn the booklet	$T (K) = T (^{\circ} C) + 273$	In the booklet
Light yearIn the booklet	$1 ly = 9.46 \times 1 0^{15} m$	In the booklet
ParsecIn the booklet	$1 pc = 3.26 ly$	In the booklet
Astronomical unitIn the booklet	$1 AU = 1.50 \times 1 0^{11} m$	In the booklet
Kilowatt-hourIn the booklet	$1 kWh = 3.60 \times 1 0^{6} J$	In the booklet
Planck constant times speed of lightHandy for photon energy E = hc/λIn the booklet	$h c = 1.99 \times 1 0^{- 25} J m = 1.24 \times 1 0^{- 6} eV m$	In the booklet

A.1 Kinematics

Theme A, space, time and motion. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Displacement from average velocityu initial, v final velocity, t time; constant accelerationIn the booklet	$s = \frac{u + v}{2} t$	In the booklet
Final velocitya accelerationIn the booklet	$v = u + a t$	In the booklet
DisplacementIn the booklet	$s = u t + \frac{1}{2} a t^{2}$	In the booklet
Velocity without timeIn the booklet	$v^{2} = u^{2} + 2 a s$	In the booklet

A.2 Forces and momentum

Theme A. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Static friction limitμ_s coefficient of static friction, F_N normal forceIn the booklet	$F_{f} \leq μ_{s} F_{N}$	In the booklet
Dynamic frictionIn the booklet	$F_{f} = μ_{d} F_{N}$	In the booklet
Hooke's lawk spring constant, x extensionIn the booklet	$F_{H} = - k x$	In the booklet
Viscous drag on a sphereη fluid viscosity, r radius, v speedIn the booklet	$F_{d} = 6 π ηr v$	In the booklet
Buoyancyρ fluid density, V volume displacedIn the booklet	$F_{b} = ρ V g$	In the booklet
WeightIn the booklet	$F_{g} = m g$	In the booklet
Linear momentumIn the booklet	$p = m v$	In the booklet
ImpulseIn the booklet	$J = F Δ t$	In the booklet
Newton's second lawThe second form allows changing massIn the booklet	$F = ma = \frac{Δ p}{Δ t}$	In the booklet
Centripetal accelerationω angular speed, T periodIn the booklet	$a = \frac{v ^{2}}{r} = ω^{2} r = \frac{4 π ^{2} r}{T ^{2}}$	In the booklet
Speed in circular motionIn the booklet	$v = \frac{2 π r}{T} = ω r$	In the booklet

A.3 Work, energy and power

Theme A. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Work doneθ is the angle between force and displacementIn the booklet	$W = F s cos θ$	In the booklet
Kinetic energyIn the booklet	$E_{k} = \frac{1}{2} m v^{2} = \frac{p ^{2}}{2 m}$	In the booklet
Change in gravitational potential energyNear the Earth's surface onlyIn the booklet	$Δ E_{p} = m g Δ h$	In the booklet
Elastic potential energyIn the booklet	$E_{H} = \frac{1}{2} k Δ x^{2}$	In the booklet
PowerIn the booklet	$P = \frac{Δ W}{Δ t} = F v$	In the booklet
EfficiencyIn the booklet	$η = \frac{E _{output}}{E _{input}} = \frac{P _{output}}{P _{input}}$	In the booklet

A.4 Rigid body mechanics

Theme A. Higher level content only.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
TorqueHL only. r distance from the axisIn the booklet	$τ = F r sin θ$	In the booklet
Angular displacement from average angular velocityHL only. Uniform angular accelerationIn the booklet	$Δ θ = \frac{ω _{f} + ω _{i}}{2} t$	In the booklet
Final angular velocityHL only. α angular accelerationIn the booklet	$ω_{f} = ω_{i} + α t$	In the booklet
Angular displacementHL only. In the booklet	$Δ θ = ω_{i} t + \frac{1}{2} α t^{2}$	In the booklet
Angular velocity without timeHL only. In the booklet	$ω_{f}^{2} = ω_{i}^{2} + 2 α Δ θ$	In the booklet
Moment of inertia of point massesHL only. Shapes other than point masses are given in the questionIn the booklet	$I = \sum m r^{2}$	In the booklet
Newton's second law for rotationHL only. In the booklet	$τ = I α$	In the booklet
Angular momentumHL only. In the booklet	$L = I ω$	In the booklet
Angular impulseHL only. In the booklet	$Δ L = τ Δ t = Δ (I ω)$	In the booklet
Rotational kinetic energyHL only. In the booklet	$E_{k} = \frac{1}{2} I ω^{2} = \frac{L ^{2}}{2 I}$	In the booklet

A.5 Galilean and special relativity

Theme A. Higher level content only.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Galilean positionHL only. Frame S' moves at speed v along xIn the booklet	$x^{'} = x - v t$	In the booklet
Galilean timeHL only. In the booklet	$t^{'} = t$	In the booklet
Galilean velocity additionHL only. In the booklet	$u^{'} = u - v$	In the booklet
Lorentz factorHL only. In the booklet	$γ = \frac{1}{1 - \frac{v ^{2}}{c ^{2}}}$	In the booklet
Lorentz positionHL only. In the booklet	$x^{'} = γ (x - v t)$	In the booklet
Lorentz timeHL only. In the booklet	$t^{'} = γ (t - \frac{vx}{c ^{2}})$	In the booklet
Relativistic velocity additionHL only. In the booklet	$u^{'} = \frac{u - v}{1 - \frac{uv}{c ^{2}}}$	In the booklet
Spacetime intervalHL only. Same in every inertial frameIn the booklet	$(Δ s)^{2} = (c Δ t)^{2} - Δ x^{2}$	In the booklet
Time dilationHL only. Δt₀ is the proper timeIn the booklet	$Δ t = γ Δ t_{0}$	In the booklet
Length contractionHL only. L₀ is the proper lengthIn the booklet	$L = \frac{L _{0}}{γ}$	In the booklet
Angle of the moving frame on a spacetime diagramHL only. In the booklet	$tan θ = \frac{v}{c}$	In the booklet

B.1 Thermal energy transfers

Theme B, the particulate nature of matter. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
DensityIn the booklet	$ρ = \frac{m}{V}$	In the booklet
Mean kinetic energy per particle (ideal gas)T in kelvinIn the booklet	$E_{k} = \frac{3}{2} k_{B} T$	In the booklet
Thermal energy for a temperature changec specific heat capacityIn the booklet	$Q = m c Δ T$	In the booklet
Thermal energy for a phase changeL specific latent heatIn the booklet	$Q = m L$	In the booklet
Rate of conductionk thermal conductivity, A cross-sectionIn the booklet	$\frac{Δ Q}{Δ t} = k A \frac{Δ T}{Δ x}$	In the booklet
Stefan-Boltzmann law (luminosity)L power radiated, A surface areaIn the booklet	$L = σ A T^{4}$	In the booklet
Apparent brightnessd distance to the sourceIn the booklet	$b = \frac{L}{4 π d ^{2}}$	In the booklet
Wien's displacement lawIn the booklet	$λ_{m a x} T = 2.9 \times 1 0^{- 3} m K$	In the booklet

B.2 Greenhouse effect

Theme B. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
EmissivityIn the booklet	$emissivity = \frac{power radiated per unit area}{σ T ^{4}}$	In the booklet
AlbedoIn the booklet	$albedo = \frac{total scattered power}{total incident power}$	In the booklet

B.3 Gas laws

Theme B. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
PressureIn the booklet	$P = \frac{F}{A}$	In the booklet
Amount of substanceN number of moleculesIn the booklet	$n = \frac{N}{N _{A}}$	In the booklet
Combined gas lawT in kelvinIn the booklet	$\frac{P V}{T} = constant$	In the booklet
Ideal gas law (moles)In the booklet	$P V = n RT$	In the booklet
Ideal gas law (molecules)In the booklet	$P V = N k_{B} T$	In the booklet
Pressure from kinetic theoryMean square speed of the moleculesIn the booklet	$P = \frac{1}{3} ρ ⟨ v^{2} ⟩$	In the booklet
Internal energy of a monatomic ideal gasIn the booklet	$U = \frac{3}{2} n RT = \frac{3}{2} N k_{B} T$	In the booklet

B.4 Thermodynamics

Theme B. Higher level content only.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
First law of thermodynamicsHL only. Q heat added, W work done by the gasIn the booklet	$Q = Δ U + W$	In the booklet
Work done by a gasHL only. Constant pressureIn the booklet	$W = P Δ V$	In the booklet
Change in internal energyHL only. Monatomic ideal gasIn the booklet	$Δ U = \frac{3}{2} n R Δ T = \frac{3}{2} N k_{B} Δ T$	In the booklet
Entropy changeHL only. In the booklet	$Δ S = \frac{Δ Q}{T}$	In the booklet
Entropy and microstatesHL only. Ω number of microstatesIn the booklet	$S = k_{B} ln Ω$	In the booklet
Adiabatic change (monatomic ideal gas)HL only. In the booklet	$P V^{5/3} = constant$	In the booklet
Efficiency of a heat engineHL only. In the booklet	$η = \frac{useful work}{input energy}$	In the booklet
Carnot efficiencyHL only. Temperatures in kelvinIn the booklet	$η_{Carnot} = 1 - \frac{T _{c}}{T _{h}}$	In the booklet

B.5 Current and circuits

Theme B. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Electric currentIn the booklet	$I = \frac{Δ q}{Δ t}$	In the booklet
Potential differenceIn the booklet	$V = \frac{W}{q}$	In the booklet
ResistanceIn the booklet	$R = \frac{V}{I}$	In the booklet
ResistivityA cross-sectional area, L lengthIn the booklet	$ρ = \frac{R A}{L}$	In the booklet
Electrical powerIn the booklet	$P = I V = I^{2} R = \frac{V ^{2}}{R}$	In the booklet
Resistors in seriesSame current I; voltages addIn the booklet	$R_{s} = R_{1} + R_{2} + \dots$	In the booklet
Resistors in parallelSame voltage V; currents addIn the booklet	$\frac{1}{R _{p}} = \frac{1}{R _{1}} + \frac{1}{R _{2}} + \dots$	In the booklet
EMF and internal resistanceR external resistance, r internal resistanceIn the booklet	$ε = I (R + r)$	In the booklet

C.1 Simple harmonic motion

Theme C, wave behaviour. The first group is SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Defining equation of SHMIn the booklet	$a = - ω^{2} x$	In the booklet
Period, frequency and angular frequencyIn the booklet	$T = \frac{1}{f} = \frac{2 π}{ω}$	In the booklet
Mass on a springIn the booklet	$T = 2 π \frac{m}{k}$	In the booklet
Simple pendulumSmall anglesIn the booklet	$T = 2 π \frac{l}{g}$	In the booklet
DisplacementHL only. x₀ amplitude, φ phase constantIn the booklet	$x = x_{0} sin (ω t + ϕ)$	In the booklet
VelocityHL only. In the booklet	$v = ω x_{0} cos (ω t + ϕ)$	In the booklet
Velocity from displacementHL only. In the booklet	$v = \pm ω x_{0}^{2} - x^{2}$	In the booklet
Total energyHL only. In the booklet	$E_{T} = \frac{1}{2} m ω^{2} x_{0}^{2}$	In the booklet
Potential energyHL only. In the booklet	$E_{p} = \frac{1}{2} m ω^{2} x^{2}$	In the booklet

C.2 Wave model

Theme C. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Wave speedIn the booklet	$v = f λ = \frac{λ}{T}$	In the booklet

C.3 Wave phenomena

Theme C. The first four rows are SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Snell's lawn refractive index, θ measured from the normalIn the booklet	$\frac{n _{1}}{n _{2}} = \frac{s i n θ _{2}}{s i n θ _{1}} = \frac{v _{2}}{v _{1}}$	In the booklet
Constructive interferencen = 0, 1, 2, ...In the booklet	$path difference = nλ$	In the booklet
Destructive interferenceIn the booklet	$path difference = (n + \frac{1}{2}) λ$	In the booklet
Young's double slit fringe spacingD slit to screen, d slit separationIn the booklet	$s = \frac{λ D}{d}$	In the booklet
Single-slit diffraction (first minimum)HL only. b slit width, small anglesIn the booklet	$θ = \frac{λ}{b}$	In the booklet
Diffraction gratingHL only. d grating spacing, n orderIn the booklet	$nλ = d sin θ$	In the booklet

C.5 Doppler effect

Theme C. The first row is SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Doppler shift (low speeds, light or sound)v relative speed of source and observerIn the booklet	$\frac{Δ f}{f} = \frac{Δ λ}{λ} \approx \frac{v}{c}$	In the booklet
Moving source (sound)HL only. Minus when the source moves towards the observerIn the booklet	$f^{'} = f (\frac{v}{v \pm u _{s}})$	In the booklet
Moving observer (sound)HL only. Plus when the observer moves towards the sourceIn the booklet	$f^{'} = f (\frac{v \pm u _{o}}{v})$	In the booklet

D.1 Gravitational fields

Theme D, fields. The first two rows are SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Newton's law of gravitationIn the booklet	$F = G \frac{m _{1} m _{2}}{r ^{2}}$	In the booklet
Gravitational field strengthIn the booklet	$g = \frac{F}{m} = G \frac{M}{r ^{2}}$	In the booklet
Gravitational potential energyHL only. In the booklet	$E_{p} = - G \frac{m _{1} m _{2}}{r}$	In the booklet
Gravitational potentialHL only. In the booklet	$V_{g} = - G \frac{M}{r}$	In the booklet
Field strength from potential gradientHL only. In the booklet	$g = - \frac{Δ V _{g}}{Δ r}$	In the booklet
Work in a gravitational fieldHL only. In the booklet	$W = m Δ V_{g}$	In the booklet
Escape speedHL only. In the booklet	$v_{esc} = \frac{2 GM}{r}$	In the booklet
Orbital speed (circular orbit)HL only. In the booklet	$v_{orbital} = \frac{GM}{r}$	In the booklet

D.2 Electric and magnetic fields

Theme D. The first three rows are SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Coulomb's lawIn the booklet	$F = k \frac{q _{1} q _{2}}{r ^{2}}, k = \frac{1}{4 π ε _{0}}$	In the booklet
Electric field strengthIn the booklet	$E = \frac{F}{q}$	In the booklet
Uniform field between parallel platesIn the booklet	$E = \frac{V}{d}$	In the booklet
Electric potential energyHL only. In the booklet	$E_{p} = k \frac{q _{1} q _{2}}{r}$	In the booklet
Electric potentialHL only. In the booklet	$V_{e} = \frac{k Q}{r}$	In the booklet
Field strength from potential gradientHL only. In the booklet	$E = - \frac{Δ V _{e}}{Δ r}$	In the booklet
Work in an electric fieldHL only. In the booklet	$W = q Δ V_{e}$	In the booklet

D.3 Motion in electromagnetic fields

Theme D. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Force on a moving chargeθ is the angle between v and BIn the booklet	$F = q v B sin θ$	In the booklet
Force on a current-carrying wireIn the booklet	$F = B I L sin θ$	In the booklet
Force per unit length between parallel wiresr separation of the wiresIn the booklet	$\frac{F}{L} = μ_{0} \frac{I _{1} I _{2}}{2 π r}$	In the booklet

D.4 Induction

Theme D. Higher level content only (there is no SL content in D.4).

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Magnetic fluxHL only. θ is the angle between B and the normal to the areaIn the booklet	$Φ = B A cos θ$	In the booklet
Faraday's lawHL only. N number of turnsIn the booklet	$ε = - N \frac{ΔΦ}{Δ t}$	In the booklet
EMF in a moving conductorHL only. Conductor moves perpendicular to BIn the booklet	$ε = B vL$	In the booklet

E.1 Structure of the atom

Theme E, nuclear and quantum physics.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Photon energySL and HLIn the booklet	$E = h f$	In the booklet
Nuclear radiusHL only. A nucleon numberIn the booklet	$R = R_{0} A^{1/3}$	In the booklet
Hydrogen energy levels (Bohr model)HL only. In the booklet	$E = - \frac{13.6}{n ^{2}} eV$	In the booklet
Quantised angular momentum (Bohr model)HL only. In the booklet	$m v r = \frac{nh}{2 π}$	In the booklet

E.2 Quantum physics

Theme E. Higher level content only.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Photoelectric effectHL only. Φ work functionIn the booklet	$E_{m a x} = h f - Φ$	In the booklet
De Broglie wavelengthHL only. In the booklet	$λ = \frac{h}{p}$	In the booklet
Compton shiftHL only. Photon scattered by an electronIn the booklet	$λ_{f} - λ_{i} = Δ λ = \frac{h}{m _{e} c} (1 - cos θ)$	In the booklet

E.3 Radioactive decay

Theme E. The first row is SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Mass-energy equivalenceSL and HLIn the booklet	$E = m c^{2}$	In the booklet
Radioactive decay lawHL only. λ decay constantIn the booklet	$N = N_{0} e^{- λ t}$	In the booklet
ActivityHL only. In the booklet	$A = λ N = λ N_{0} e^{- λ t}$	In the booklet
Half-lifeHL only. In the booklet	$T_{1/2} = \frac{l n 2}{λ}$	In the booklet

E.5 Fusion and stars

Theme E. SL and HL.

Formula	Equation	In the exam
Stellar parallaxIn the booklet	$d (parsec) = \frac{1}{p ( arc-second )}$	In the booklet

Learn these: not in the booklet

Velocity and acceleration as rates of change $v = \frac{Δ s}{Δ t}, a = \frac{Δ v}{Δ t}$
Conservation of linear momentum $\sum p_{before} = \sum p_{after}$
Work-energy principle $W = Δ E_{k}$
Centripetal force $F = \frac{m v ^{2}}{r} = m ω^{2} r$
Equilibrium $\sum F = 0, \sum τ = 0$ Translational, then rotational equilibrium (HL).
Kepler's third law $\frac{T ^{2}}{r ^{3}} = constant, T^{2} = \frac{4 π ^{2} r ^{3}}{GM}$ The second form is for a circular orbit.
Critical angle (from Snell's law with a 90 degree refracted ray) $sin θ_{c} = \frac{n _{2}}{n _{1}}$
Refractive index in terms of wave speed $n = \frac{c}{v}$
Intensity of a wave $I = \frac{P}{A}, I \propto \frac{1}{r ^{2}}$ The inverse square law is for a point source.
Standing waves, string fixed at both ends $λ = \frac{2 L}{n}, f_{n} = \frac{n v}{2 L}$
Terminal potential difference $V = ε - I r$
Charge and energy in a circuit $q = I t, E = Pt = I V t$
Electric field of a point charge $E = \frac{k Q}{r ^{2}}$
Radius of a charged particle's circular path in a magnetic field $r = \frac{m v}{qB}$
Energy gained by a charge through a potential difference $Δ E_{k} = q V$
Photon energy from wavelength $E = \frac{h c}{λ}$
Energy level transition $h f = E_{i} - E_{f}$
Photoelectric threshold frequency $h f_{0} = Φ$
Mass defect and binding energy $Δ m = Z m_{p} + (A - Z) m_{n} - m_{nucleus}, E_{b} = Δ m c^{2}$
Half-life (whole numbers of half-lives, SL) $N = N_{0} (\frac{1}{2})^{t / T_{1/2}}$
Stellar radius from luminosity and temperature $L = 4 π R^{2} σ T^{4} \Rightarrow R = \frac{L}{4 πσ T ^{4}}$
SHM maximum values (HL) $v_{m a x} = ω x_{0}, a_{m a x} = ω^{2} x_{0}$

Study booklets

Our printable version of each board's official booklet: everything it prints (formulas, constants, data and statistical tables) in the board's own order, plus what you must learn and exam tips. Open the dropdown, then click a booklet to open it or use Download to save the PDF.

IB Diploma1 booklet

Physics data booklet First assessment 2025PDF, 11 pages, 0.8 MB
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How to use the formula sheet in the exam

Learn the layout by theme, so in the exam you can find an equation in seconds instead of scanning every page.
Check what each angle means before substituting: in F = qvB sin θ it is the angle between the velocity and the field.
Equations in the booklet give magnitudes only, so decide directions and signs yourself from the physics.
Convert units before using constants: radians for angular quantities, kelvin for temperature, kilograms for mass, metres for lengths.
Use the printed constants to the given precision, then quote your answer to the same number of significant figures as the data in the question.

Common questions

Is the IB Physics data booklet allowed in the exam?

Yes. A clean copy of the booklet is provided in every IB Physics examination paper, at both SL and HL. It is also meant to be used throughout the course so that you know where things are.

Which equations are HL only in the 2025 booklet?

HL only equations are in A.4 rigid body mechanics, A.5 relativity, B.4 thermodynamics, D.4 induction and E.2 quantum physics, plus HL parts of C.1, C.3, C.5, D.1, D.2, E.1 and E.3. Each is marked in the notes on this page.

Does the booklet give every formula I need?

No. It prints the equations the guide refers to, but not definitions such as v = change in displacement over time, nor derived results such as the critical angle or the radius of a circular path in a magnetic field. Use the learn list to cover these.

What changed from the older IB Physics data booklet?

The 2025 booklet is organised by the new themes A to E instead of the old numbered topics, and the options are gone. Check that your revision notes match the new booklet, because some older equations, such as I = nAvq, are not printed in it.

Do I need to memorise the fundamental constants?

No. The constants, atomic mass values and unit conversions are printed in the booklet. Spend your time on understanding which equation fits the question instead.

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Real past paper questions, by topic

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IB physics

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Formulas checked against the official documents linked above. Boards update their booklets from time to time: always practise with the version your exam uses.

IB Physics data booklet guide for the 2025 syllabus

In short

Mathematics and uncertainties

Fundamental constants

Unit conversions

A.1 Kinematics

A.2 Forces and momentum

A.3 Work, energy and power

A.4 Rigid body mechanics

A.5 Galilean and special relativity

B.1 Thermal energy transfers

B.2 Greenhouse effect

B.3 Gas laws

B.4 Thermodynamics

B.5 Current and circuits

C.1 Simple harmonic motion

C.2 Wave model

C.3 Wave phenomena

C.5 Doppler effect

D.1 Gravitational fields

D.2 Electric and magnetic fields

D.3 Motion in electromagnetic fields

D.4 Induction

E.1 Structure of the atom

E.2 Quantum physics

E.3 Radioactive decay

E.5 Fusion and stars

Learn these: not in the booklet

Study booklets

How to use the formula sheet in the exam

Common questions

Real past paper questions, by topic

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