Chemistry IA: What Nobody Tells You Before You Start

If you’re about to do your IB Chemistry IA, let me save you some headaches. You might think you have this perfect, groundbreaking idea that will make your teacher gasp in awe. Reality check: your dream experiment might just be impossible for a student to pull off.

When I started mine, I was so excited about doing something with sunscreen. Zinc oxide, the star ingredient that blocks UV rays, seemed super interesting to test. I wanted to measure how different amounts affected light absorption. I thought I’d make a masterpiece. I did not. Turns out, analyzing zinc oxide at that level needs expensive instruments that we don’t have sitting in the corner of a high school lab.

That was the first lesson. Cool idea does not always mean doable idea. It is so important to figure out what is actually possible before you start mixing chemicals and hoping for the best.

So here are the real lessons I wish I knew before I got stuck knee-deep in bleach and food dye.

1. Always check if your idea is realistic. No matter how confident you feel, talk to your teacher. Ask what equipment the school has. Ask if the method is actually practical in a high school setting. I kept asking my teacher, “Would this even work?” and honestly that saved me. They want you to succeed, so listen to them.

2. Simpler does not mean boring.I ended up switching my topic from sunscreen to testing how bleach affects the absorption of food dye. Was it basic? Maybe. Was it clear, measurable and achievable? Yes. And that is what matters. You do not need fancy machines or an idea no one in the world has ever heard of. You need reliable results and a solid method.

3. Watch videos of similar experiments.Seriously, YouTube is your friend. I watched other students doing colorimetry and bleach tests so I could picture exactly what I needed to do. It helps you see where you might mess up. It makes you feel less lost when you’re in the lab trying not to spill dye on your pants.

4. Be ready for failure.Chemicals misbehave. Machines stop working. Your data might make zero sense. I had to repeat trials because the bleach worked faster than I thought and the colorimeter gave weird readings. Build time for repeats. Always keep extra dye or chemicals handy. Do not assume you will get it right on the first try.

5. Stay flexible.If you realize halfway through that your plan is not working, do not cling to it like a lifeline. Adapt. Talk to your teacher. Change something. Better to fix things early than end up with useless data and no time left to redo it.

6. Trust your instincts. Sometimes you feel like something is off. Maybe you think your method is too complicated. Maybe you notice your results do not match what you expected at all. Trust those feelings. Ask questions. Do not blindly push through hoping it will magically fix itself.

7. Your IA is not your PhD thesis.Your IA is about showing you can plan, execute, and evaluate an experiment. It is not about proving you are a genius chemist. Markschemes reward clear, logical work that makes sense. An impressive-sounding topic with no data is worse than a simple topic done well.

Bonus tip: Write everything down.Every time you tweak your method, note it. Every problem you run into, write it. This will make your evaluation so much stronger and help you reflect honestly. Your mistakes are proof that you learned something. Use them.

Doing my Chemistry IA taught me that being realistic does not mean being boring. It means being smart about what you can actually test and what you can’t. It means listening to your teacher instead of your ego.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just know that everyone messes up at some point. Everyone doubts their topic. Everyone panics when their results look weird. It is all part of the process.

So pick something doable, plan well, stay flexible, and trust that you’ll get there. And please, for your own sanity, watch a few YouTube demos before you pour anything into a beaker.

Until then – your IBInsiders 🧠✨

Defne OZAN