AI Study Coach
Type any IB topic. Get a complete breakdown — what's in it, what you need first, where to study it, and exactly how to know you've truly understood it.
Build a study guide →What is AI Study Coach?
Most revision tools give you timetables and MCQs. The problem is that a timetable doesn't tell you what to actually think about, and MCQs only test recall — not understanding. AI Study Coach does something different: for any IB topic you name, it gives you a structured learning map showing what the topic contains, what foundations you need, where to find the best resources, and — crucially — what you should be able to do once you've understood it.
What other tools give you
- Week-by-week timetables
- MCQ practice banks
- Motivational tips
- Generic study strategies
What Study Coach gives you
- Concept map of the topic
- Prerequisites you need first
- Specific resources by type
- Mastery criteria — no MCQs
Topic breakdown
Every concept and sub-topic in the logical order to study them — nothing missing, nothing extra.
Prerequisites
Specific math and science foundations needed before starting. Saves you hitting a wall mid-topic.
Targeted resources
Data Booklet equations, textbook chapters, past paper question types, and what to search on YouTube.
Mastery checklist
What you should be able to derive, explain, and solve — in IB command term language. No MCQs.
How it works
Pick your subject and level
Select the subject (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Math AA/AI, etc.) and whether you're HL or SL. This matters — the depth of content and the resources differ significantly.
Type the topic name
Be as specific as you like — "Projectile Motion", "Enzyme Kinetics", "Integration by Parts", "Circular Motion", "Le Chatelier's Principle". The more specific, the more useful the guide.
Read the four sections in order
Start with prerequisites — if you're missing foundations, address those first. Then work through the topic content, using the resources listed. Come back to the mastery section at the end to check yourself.
Use the mastery criteria — not MCQs
The final section tells you what to derive, explain, and set up from scratch. If you can do all of those without notes, you understand the topic. If you can't, you know exactly what to revisit.
See what you get
These show the structure of a guide — condensed for display. The real output is more detailed.
Projectile Motion — Physics HL
Physics- Independence of horizontal and vertical motion
- Horizontal motion: constant velocity (no acceleration)
- Vertical motion: uniform acceleration under gravity (g = 9.81 m s⁻²)
- Initial velocity components: v₀ₓ = v₀ cos θ, v₀ᵧ = v₀ sin θ
- Time of flight, range, and maximum height — deriving each from kinematics
- Symmetry of trajectory (launch and landing at same height)
- Projectiles launched horizontally (θ = 0) as a special case
- Effect of air resistance (qualitative, HL)
- Resolving a vector into components using sin and cos — must be fluent
- SUVAT equations (v = u + at, s = ut + ½at², v² = u² + 2as)
- Sign convention for vectors (choosing + direction before starting)
Textbook (Tsokos): Chapter 2.1–2.2 — Kinematics. Work through the projectile examples, not just the theory.
Past papers: Paper 1 (calculation MCQs on range/height) and Paper 2 (multi-step problems). Look for command term "Calculate" — mark scheme always shows x and y treated separately.
Video: Search "IB Physics projectile motion Tsokos" or "projectile motion horizontal launch IB". Chris Doner and Mike Sugiyama Jones channels cover this well.
- Derive time of flight for a projectile launched at angle θ with speed v₀ — from scratch, no formula sheet
- Set up x and y equations separately for any launch scenario before touching numbers
- Explain why horizontal velocity is constant and vertical is not — in one sentence using Newton's laws
- Sketch the trajectory for horizontal launch and angled launch, marking vₓ and vᵧ at three points
- Common misconception that disappears: "the horizontal velocity pulls the object forward while gravity pulls it down" — once understood, you know they act independently and neither affects the other
Enzyme Kinetics — Biology HL
Biology- Enzymes as biological catalysts — active site, substrate, enzyme-substrate complex
- Lock-and-key vs induced-fit models
- Effect of substrate concentration on rate — initial rate, Vmax, saturation
- Effect of temperature: optimum, denaturation above optimum, decreased rate below
- Effect of pH: optimum pH, denaturation by extreme pH
- Competitive inhibition — inhibitor competes for active site, reversible
- Non-competitive inhibition — allosteric site, changes shape of active site (HL only)
- Denaturation vs inhibition — key distinction
- Protein structure (primary → quaternary) — enzymes are globular proteins
- What a catalyst does: lowers activation energy, not consumed in reaction
- Basic understanding of reaction rate (how fast products form)
- Sketch a rate vs substrate concentration graph and explain why it plateaus at Vmax
- Draw and annotate the effect of a competitive inhibitor on the same graph
- Explain in mark-scheme language (using "active site", "enzyme-substrate complex", "complementary shape") how temperature above optimum reduces activity
- IB command terms: "Explain" (needs mechanism, not just observation), "Compare" (needs both similarities AND differences), "Distinguish" (needs a clear difference)
- Misconception that disappears: "enzymes are destroyed at high temperature" — correct term is denatured (shape changes, not destroyed)
HL vs SL: Non-competitive inhibition and allosteric sites are HL only. SL students still need competitive inhibition and all the graphs.
Integration by Parts — Math AA HL
Mathematics- The formula: ∫u dv = uv − ∫v du — where it comes from (product rule in reverse)
- Choosing u and dv — the LIATE rule as a guide (Logarithm, Inverse trig, Algebraic, Trig, Exponential)
- Single application: ∫x eˣ dx, ∫x sin x dx, ∫ln x dx
- Repeated application: ∫x² eˣ dx (apply twice)
- Cyclic case: ∫eˣ sin x dx (result appears on both sides — collect and solve)
- Definite integrals using the formula with limits
- Product rule for differentiation — integration by parts is its reverse
- Standard integrals: ∫eˣ dx, ∫sin x dx, ∫cos x dx, ∫xⁿ dx
- Algebraic manipulation — you will need to rearrange equations
- Derive the formula from the product rule — write it out without looking
- Set up u and dv correctly for ∫x² cos x dx before integrating
- Solve the cyclic case ∫eˣ cos x dx — recognise when to collect terms
- Evaluate a definite integral using integration by parts with correct limit substitution
- Misconception that disappears: "you can choose u and dv any way" — wrong choices lead to a harder integral, not a simpler one; LIATE guides you to the choice that reduces complexity
Tips
Check prerequisites before diving in
If the guide says you need vector components before projectile motion, spend 20 minutes there first. Starting a topic without the foundations is the most common reason students feel stuck.
Use past papers as your test — not MCQs
The mastery section tells you what problem types to attempt. Find two or three of those in past papers and solve them from scratch. If you can, you're done. If you can't, go back to the specific sub-topic that blocked you.
Generate a guide for sub-topics too
If "Waves" feels too broad, run a guide on "Standing Waves" or "Diffraction Gratings" separately. The more specific the topic, the more actionable the guide.
Read the misconceptions section carefully
These are the errors that cost marks in exams. If a misconception sounds familiar — like something you believed — that's the thing to re-examine first.