How To Write Effective IB Physics Notes In Under 15 Minutes

Say goodbye to the chaotic pile of notes and hello to a streamlined, supercharged IB Physics note template that not only saves time but also ramps up your retention and understanding of complex physics concepts.

Throughout my years of helping IB Physics students, I've seen it all: from the colour-coded perfectionists to those who barely scrape together notes before exams.

Please don't spend hours re-writing your entire class notes or marking up your textbook with a highlighter.

The trick is:

• Knowing exactly what to include in your notes
• Writing your condensed study notes throughout the IB Physics course
• Following exactly the same structure for every IB Physics topic – that way, you start to know instinctively where to look for certain types of information.

It should also be said that writing effective study notes is part of a wider step-by-step guide on How To Study IB Physics. You can see how IB Physics fit into the wider study strategy for IB Physics here.

Resources Needed To Create IB Physics Notes
(Free Downloads Here)

IB Physics Note Template

The most efficient way to create useful study notes is to create a template with the following subheadings already mapped out.

1. Formulae
2. Required Definitions
3. Common Diagrams
4. Common Graphs
5. Experiments
6. Other Notes

You can then print, or photocopy multiple versions and be ready for action for every IB Physics topic you study.

FREE TIME-SAVING DOWNLOAD!

I have designed a revision note template for you and it looks like this: 

Get Your Blank Template For Physics Revision Notes HERE

IB Physics Syllabus Checklist

Once you’ve created your template, you then need to fill it with the right information.

The best way to do this is to get hold of the learning objectives for the IB Physics topic that you are revising.

These learning objectives must be mapped exactly to the IB Physics specification.

Again... I'm happy to act as your saviour here! I have a free checklist of the whole IB Physics HL and SL syllabus here for you to download:

Get Your Free IB Physics Syllabus Checklist HERE

What To Write In IB Physics Study Notes

In the following sections, I’m going to talk you through exactly what to write under each subheading of your revision notes. I’ll include plenty of worked examples as we go along.

My examples are all taken from topic B.1 (and B.3): Thermal Physics

What To Write - Formulae

The first section we’ll complete is the “Formulae” section. Quite simply, look through your list of learning objectives and write down all the formulae.

If you understand each formula and how to use it – you only write the formula down. If you’re a little less confident with any of the formulae listed, you might want to include a couple of notes to remind yourself – see my example:

You can see that there are some formulae without any accompanying notes – these are the ones that I’m very comfortable with (both the formulae and the concepts behind them).

Yet there are others that have bullets or explanatory notes next to them, such as:

Ideal Gas Equation (pV=nRT)

I’ve noted down the necessary conditions for this formula to be used:

1. low pressure
2. moderate temperature
3. low density

This little note might come in useful for answer exam questions later on.

Boltzmann Constant
I’ve drawn lots of stars around one formula! That’s because this formula is not in the data booklet. The stars remind me that I must memorise this before my exam.

What To Write - Required Definitions

Definitions (and basic recall of facts) can account for around 10% of your final exam mark, so take care when completing this section – there’s huge potential to improve your marks here with limited effort. A handful of definitions can make all the difference when you’re looking to achieve top marks.

The best way to learn definitions is by separating them by topic, so grouping them all under a single section in your revision notes for each topic is half of the battle – see my example:

Once you’ve written down all your definitions, mark those that you need to memorise for the exam with a red star. To figure out which ones you need to memorise, look for words like “define”, “state”, “memorise” in your set of learning objectives.

If it’s not immediately obvious which definitions you need to memorise, try an online search for your topic, e.g. “Topic 2 IB Physics definitions”. Sometimes you’ll find that someone’s done the hard work for you, but... caution: these lists can be a little over-eager and sometimes include hundreds of unneeded definitions.

A good quality online revision course (like TrIBe Physics!) will have done all this work for you.

Otherwise, you can use past papers to help you identify which definitions are consistently examined. This is a little time-consuming, but it’s time well spent. When you come to doing past paper questions, try to remember to mark up commonly examined definitions in your revision notes so that these are clearly identifiable when you come to doing your final revision.

What To Write - Common Diagrams

Our brains capture information in a number of different ways and a diagram can be both memorable and informative, so this is an important section of your IB Physics notes.

Simply take your learning objectives for the topic, open your textbook (or class notes) at the correct chapter and look for diagrams that match the learning objectives. Then copy those diagrams into the Common Diagrams section of your topic revision notes.

Once you’ve copied the diagrams into your notes, take time to label them and annotate them with explanatory notes to help you remember what they are illustrating. When it comes to making these annotations, you should ask yourself questions like:

• What scale is the diagram? (e.g. micro-metres, kilometres, light years, etc.)
• Are any of the sections of the diagram moving? (e.g. molecules in a gas)
• Have you labelled all the parts? Do they need any explanation?
• Are there any formulae associated with the diagram?
• Would you associate any keywords or phrases with the diagram?

Look at my diagrams (above). The one on the left-hand side diagram is simply copied from the textbook. The one on the right-hand side has been labelled with annotations prompted by my questions above. You can see how helpful these sort of annotations can be when it comes to last-minute revision.

Concentrate on copying down the correct diagrams and using my prompt questions to help you label them as fully as possible.

What To Write - Common Graphs

The Common Graphs sections follows the same methods as the Common Diagrams section. Open your textbook (or class notes) at the correct chapter and simply copy out the graphs that you see referenced in your topic’s learning objectives into your topic revision notes.

Once you have a section of graphs you can start to analyse the relationships between the variables represented in your graphs and to annotate them with useful reminders and notes. You can use the following questions to as prompts:

• What mathematical relationship is shown between the two variables in the graph? (e.g. are they directly proportional, indirectly proportional, etc.)
• What does the gradient of the graph represent?
• Is the gradient constant or varied? Why?
• What does the intercept of the graph represent?
• What does the area under the graph represent – if anything?
• Are there limits to the graph?
• Does the graph extend to infinity? Why?

This section is more helpful in exams than you might expect. Annotated graphs are a way to cover the important relationships between key variables in your topic in a very concise way. Simply sketching out a graph can be a huge help when figuring out how best to structure a detailed and precise extended-response answer in an exam.

What to write: Experiments

The IB specification specifies that you should carry out a number of practicals as part of your two year course.

For now... don’t worry if you haven’t done these in class yet, they will be summarised in your textbook and your job is simply to open your textbook to the correct topic, identify the experiments that are related to the topic you’re working through and to summarise them in this section here.

Use the following prompts to help you capture all the important points:

• What is the title of the experiment?
• What are the independent, dependent and control variables?
• Draw a brief sketch of the apparatus
• Give an extremely brief method (no more than two sentences)
• What table should you draw?
• What did the graph look like between the independent and the dependent variable?
• What conclusion was drawn?
• Where did errors occur? Were the errors systematic or random?

Remember! You don’t need to include a complete write-up of the experiment and you shouldn’t go into too much detail here. My example above should give you an indication of the approximate level of detail required.

What to write: Other Notes

In the ‘Other Notes’ section of your revision notes, you’ll include the learning objectives that haven’t been covered by the previous sections of your notes (formulae, definitions, diagrams, graphs, experiments).

You can also include any insights that you’ve gained by completing past papers. This part can’t be filled out until you’ve done a few past papers, of course, but it’s important to include here any lessons you learn when doing example questions, especially where you lost marks so that you can avoid repeating the mistake in the real exam.

My example shows you the sort of things that might end up in this section.

Writing IB Physics Notes: Conclusion

As if that wasn’t enough... in the process of writing the notes, you’ll also find you’ve (fairly seamlessly) learned a good chunk of the course content along the way.

You can now pat yourself on the back for the awesome pile of notes you’ve created, set aside your textbook and now focus on practising exam questions and improving your exam technique. The enormity of the course now fits into your pocket and, more importantly, into your head!

Check out this complete set of notes for Thermal Physics!

Get Your Blank Template For Physics Revision Notes HERE

Honestly? I think watching the video on this blog post will explain everything much better than writing it all down! Watch the 4 minute video with your revision note template to hand.

FAQ's About IB Physics Notes

Why should you adopt this method for writing your IB Physics notes?

Let’s dive into the reasons:

• Using a well-organised template keeps your notes tidy and your thoughts clearer. Imagine having all your essential formulas, key definitions, and critical diagrams at your fingertips, organised in a way that makes sense!
• Writing your own notes forces you to engage actively with the IB Physics syllabus. It’s not just about reading and re-reading your textbook; it’s about condensing and applying the information. 
• This method allows you to write revision notes that target and enhance your individual weaknesses. Whether you need more visuals, detailed explanations, or straightforward bullet points, your notes can be tailored to maximise your personal learning.
• Structured revision notes make completing IB Physics past papers much easier. You'll have all the formulae, definitions. graphs, diagrams and notes at hadn't when you start to tackle exam-style questions. This is about working smarter, not harder.
• These notes are designed to align directly with the IB Physics syllabus. They ensure that you are studying the most relevant and exam-applicable material. No more guessing what to study!

Do I need to write notes?

Condensing the entire IB Physics syllabus into detailed revision notes is crucial. Effective notes highlight essential facts and provide a quick reference as you progress to solving IB Physics past papers and preparing for the IB Physics exam.

Should I write the revision notes myself?

Personalised revision notes help you thoroughly understand the IB Physics HL and IB Physics SL syllabus, identify weak areas, and encapsulate the content in your own words.

Is practicing past exam questions a better use of time?

While working through IB Physics past papers is vital, having a strong foundation built from your own revision notes is key to success. Don’t underestimate the power of well-organised notes—efficiency is crucial.

What Should You Do After Writing IB Physics Notes?

Writing revision notes is a vital part of my 4-step success path on how to study IB Physics. Can you spot this step in the path below?

The next step is to start practising exam-style questions. I'll deep dive into this in my article "How To Study IB Physics", where I help you take your revision notes and use them wisely in improving your exam technique and problem-solving skills. I'll see you there!

Hope this helps