IB Physics IA Examples

Robert Millikan's experiments isolated charged droplets of water through increased electric fields, but due to water's quick evaporation, he switched to oil droplets. 

The study's main objective is to replicate Millikan's oil-drop experiment through computer simulation and ascertain the electron's charge using two methods: the original stationary voltage measurement and an alternative terminal velocity measurement of oil drops at constant voltage.

Electric current arises from the movement of charged particles (electrons) and represents the charge flow rate. Resistance hinders this flow. Light-dependent resistors (LDRs) are semiconductors with variable resistance. 

The investigation aims to establish the relationship between illuminance and LDR resistance. Illuminance variation was created by adjusting light-resistor distance, and the influence of surface area on the exposed LDR sensor was explored by altering the hole radius of covering disks.

Water waves are mechanical in nature, and it's reasonable to expect that higher water density leads to increased wave speed. This is due to the denser molecular arrangement, facilitating faster wave transmission between tightly bonded particles. 

Single-slit diffraction happens when a wave passes through a small opening compared to its size, causing less diffraction due to higher velocity through the opening. The investigation's goal is to uncover the connection between density and single-slit diffraction.

Luminosity quantifies the energy emitted by celestial bodies, influencing their brightness and magnitude. This research delves into circumstellar habitable zones (CHZ), calculating the 'Goldilocks zone' for nearby stars potentially harboring habitable planets. 

Higher-class stars are anticipated to have a more distant CHZ, yet the CHZ range is predicted to be consistent across all star classes, offering valuable insights into potential habitable environments.

The torsion pendulum serves various purposes, including material property investigation and clock mechanisms. In a clock, disk oscillation period dictates pointer movement. 

This research delves into the connection between the suspension length of a torsion pendulum and its disk rotation period. The hypothesis posits that longer suspension lengths will result in extended periods of disk rotation.

This investigation concerns the magnetic field within a solenoid, determined by the constant of magnetic permeability of free space. The objective is to explore whether this constant retains the same value in practical applications. 

The hypothesis anticipates that the observed values will deviate slightly from the theoretical constant due to potential errors, leading to either an increase or decrease in the constant's value.

This study focuses on Wien's displacement law, a concept derived from Planck's radiation formula, which explains how the peak emission wavelength of a blackbody changes with its temperature. 

The investigation aims to compute Wien's displacement constant by utilizing data acquired from a computer simulation. By comparing the calculated constant to the established value, the accuracy of the simulation will be assessed. The hypothesis predicts that as the temperature rises, the peak emission wavelength will decrease.

The study aims to identify the most suitable mathematical model for describing the universe's expansion and to understand its implications for the universe's future development. 

The hypothesis suggests that an increasing exponential model is the optimal choice to explain the universe's expansion. The rationale behind this lies in the idea that as galaxies move farther from Earth, they also distance themselves from other galaxies, causing the weakening of gravitational forces.