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IB DP Physics(2025)A1.P1 Free Fall Practical: Measuring g

IB DP Physics(2025)A1.P1 Free Fall Practical: Measuring g

Subject: Physics

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

18 August 2026

zip, 3.06 MB
zip, 3.06 MB

Free IB DP Physics hands-on practical for Topic A.1 Kinematics (SL and HL, first assessment 2025): measure the acceleration of free fall g by timing an object falling from rest through a range of heights, then linearise s = ½gt² and read g from the gradient of a graph of s against t². This complete, no-cost lab is the first free hands-on practical from the premium YPhysics IB DP Physics catalogue, so a teacher can see exactly what the paid packs deliver before buying one.

his is a structured IB Inquiry lab worksheet, not an expository lesson, built around the IB skills in the study of physics that it names explicitly. The worksheet runs the complete practical cycle. Students state and explain a prediction from s = ½gt², set out the independent, dependent and controlled variables, and justify the range of drop heights (about 0.20 m to 1.00 m) and the five repeat readings taken at each height. They address the safety hazards of a falling steel ball, a top-heavy clamp stand and the low-voltage electromagnet circuit, then collect repeat fall times on an electronic millisecond timer and record each measurement with its ± uncertainty.

In processing, students linearise the free-fall relationship: a graph of s against t² is a straight line through the origin whose gradient is g/2. They compute means and t² with propagated uncertainties (squaring a value doubles its fractional uncertainty), plot the points with horizontal error bars, draw the line of best fit, and read the gradient to obtain g. Lines of maximum and minimum gradient through the error bars fix the uncertainty in g. Students then state the relationship found, compare their value against the accepted 9.81 m s⁻², judge whether 9.81 m s⁻² lies within their uncertainty range, and evaluate the random and systematic errors: air resistance and release delay both lengthen the measured times and pull g low, while a zero error in the height shifts the intercept, not the gradient. Reaction time is deliberately excluded, because the electronic timer removes it. A Nature of Science note on graphical analysis shows how drawing one line through many readings turns a scatter of measurements into a single, evidence-based value.

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Get this resource as part of a bundle and save up to 30%

A bundle is a package of resources grouped together to teach a particular topic, or a series of lessons, in one place.

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IB DP Physics (2025) A.1 Kinematics Complete Unit Bundle

The complete Topic A.1 Kinematics unit for IB DP Physics, SL and HL, first assessment 2025, bundled into one sequenced teaching unit and priced 30% below the cost of buying the packs separately. **What's in the unit** - Nine lesson packs in teaching order: Distance and Displacement, Speed and Velocity, Acceleration and Non-Uniform Motion, Graphical Analysis of Motion, SUVAT Equations I and II, Projectile Motion I and II, and Fluid Resistance. - A1.P1, a full double-period bench practical measuring the acceleration of free fall, aim to evaluation, with honest sample data. - SL and HL topic tests with AO-tagged mark schemes, for end-of-topic assessment. - Skill packs for targeted drill on scientific notation, significant figures and unit conversion. Together the lessons cover all nine understandings of Topic A.1: position, displacement, velocity and acceleration, motion graphs, the four suvat equations, projectile motion, and the qualitative effect of fluid resistance. **Every lesson pack includes:** - An editable student worksheet - A teacher key with every answer and marking point - Worked solutions with every step and its units - A questions-only assessment with IB mark allocations - A choreographed lesson deck with staged reveals **IB skills (mostly Tool 3: Mathematics)**: identifying scalars and vectors, determining rates of change, drawing and adding vectors, converting units, selecting and rearranging the suvat equations, resolving vectors into perpendicular components, interpreting and sketching motion graphs, and linearizing data. The practical adds Tool 1 experimental technique and the Inquiry skills: measuring time and length, recording and propagating uncertainties, plotting best-fit lines, and evaluating error sources. Everything ships as self-contained HTML, so worksheet and deck open in any browser with nothing to install and the worksheet is fully editable, plus colour and black-and-white PDF of every projection and the slides. SI units, IB notation and IB command terms throughout. A1.1 is free, so you can teach a whole lesson before buying. Suitable for grades 11-12 (ages 16-19) for first teaching, assessment and revision. **Also in the catalogue, sold separately:** - [Resolving Vectors, the skill pack behind the projectile lessons](/teaching-resource/-13537892) - [Uncertainties, the arithmetic the practical leans on](/teaching-resource/-13538960) - [Uncertainties on a Graph, error bars and extreme gradient lines]( /teaching-resource/-13542412)

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