Chemistry IA
IB Chemistry IA ideas: 25 guided topics
pick one, then make it yours ↓Twenty-five investigations that work for the Chemistry IA, including database and simulation options. Open one to see the big idea, how to make it yours, the set-up, a layout, a sample graph and a step-by-step plan.
How the IB Chemistry IA is marked
- 20% of your grade
- About 10 hours
- 3,000 words max
- 24 marks
- Research design 6 marks A focused question and a method that can answer it.
- Data analysis 6 marks Correct processing, with uncertainties carried through.
- Conclusion 6 marks An answer your analysis supports, compared with accepted science.
- Evaluation 6 marks Real weaknesses and realistic improvements.
You may work in a group of up to three, but each student changes a different variable and writes an individual report.
Chemistry IA ideas to start with
- Ethanol and water: do the volumes really add up?Mix 50 mL and 50 mL and you don't get 100 mL. Measure the shortfall, then explain it.
- Hydrogen's spectrum: pulling out the Rydberg constantHydrogen's colours aren't decoration, they're data. Turn a handful of wavelengths into the energy it takes to pull an electron off an atom.
- Counting atoms: Avogadro's constant by electrolysisAvogadro's number is just handed to you. Now count atoms yourself, with a current, a clock and a balance.
- Real gases: how far from ideal?The ideal gas law is in every exam. You're going to find out exactly where it stops being true, and by how much.
- The ionic model vs real salts: where does it break?The ionic model says every 'ionic' salt is made of perfect spheres. The energy numbers say otherwise, for some of them.
- Bond length and strength by computer modellingLet a computer 'measure' the bond, then ask how far you should trust it.
All 25 Chemistry IA topics
- Ethanol and water: do the volumes really add up?●○○
- Hydrogen's spectrum: pulling out the Rydberg constant●●○
- Counting atoms: Avogadro's constant by electrolysis●●○
- Real gases: how far from ideal?●●○
- The ionic model vs real salts: where does it break?●●○
- Bond length and strength by computer modelling●●○
- Same molar mass, different boiling points●○○
- Chromatography with a changing solvent polarity●○○
- Why honey flows slowly: glycerol and viscosity●●○
- Plasticised starch films: how much glycerol?●●○
- Ionisation energies: where do the shells show?●●○
- The C=O stretch: why does it shift between carbonyls?●●○
- Do weak acids give off less heat when neutralised?●●○
- Hess's law with copper(II) sulfate hydration●●○
- Dissolving uphill: entropy and potassium nitrate●●●
- Why do carbonates decompose at different temperatures?●●●
- The vitamin C clock: finding activation energy●●○
- Does the rate really double every 10 °C?●●○
- Iodine and propanone: which reactant sets the rate?●●○
- Iron thiocyanate equilibrium: how does K change with T?●●○
- Does lime water get less soluble when warm?●●○
- How hard can a buffer be pushed?●●●
- The pKa of an indicator●●●
- A cell with a changing concentration●●○
- How fast do halogenoalkanes hydrolyse?●●●
No topic matches. Try fewer words.
IB Chemistry IA guides
Official course page: the IB Chemistry pages on ibo.org. Check your teacher's guidance for the criteria that apply to you.
This guide shows how a topic like this is usually approached. It is not an IA. Your question, choices, data, analysis and words must be your own: change something, tell your teacher where the idea came from, and follow your school's rules on outside help.