Extended Essay Topics: The Easy Way to Get Started

Extended essays can feel like a huge task, but they don’t have to be. At their core, these 4,000-word essays are just detailed research projects. You pick a topic, explore it thoroughly, and show off what you’ve learned. The tricky part is choosing the right topic. Something too broad or boring can make the process way harder than it needs to be.

This article is here to save you from hours of second-guessing. It’s full of extended essay topics that are interesting, manageable, and designed to make your life easier.

And if you’re still stressed, EssayHub, a trusted provider of legitimate essay writing services, specializes in helping students get unstuck — whether that means finding a topic, structuring your ideas, or fine-tuning the final draft. 

How to Choose a Good Extended Essay Topic

Here’s a straightforward guide to help you pick good extended essay topics without the stress. Follow these steps, and you’ll set yourself up for success:

Best Extended Essay Topics

1. Guerrilla tactics in the Cuban Revolution.
2. Power dynamics in Macbeth vs. The Prince.
3. Renewable energy in urban and rural Denmark (2010-2020).
4. Gothic architecture in 13th-century France: Notre Dame.
5. Protest songs in 1960s America: Bob Dylan.
6. PTSD in war novels: All Quiet on the Western Front.
7. CO₂ emissions in industrialized vs. developing countries.
8. CRISPR technology in genetic disease treatment.
9. Legal frameworks for space exploration: Outer Space Treaty.
10. Japanese woodblock prints and modern graphic design.
11. Water conservation in Australia vs. the Middle East.
12. Body positivity campaigns and teen mental health (2010-2020).
13. Symbolism in Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory.
14. Architectural innovations in the Eiffel Tower.
15. Seasonal dietary changes in deer populations.
16. Democratic vs. authoritarian governance in the Cold War.
17. Cultural identity in African literature: Things Fall Apart.
18. Coral reef biodiversity loss due to overfishing.
19. RSA encryption and modern cryptography.
20. Social class in Victorian literature: Great Expectations.

Biology Extended Essay Topics

1. Soil pH and nitrogen absorption in legume crops.
2. Temperature changes and freshwater fish breeding cycles.
3. Genetic variations in wild vs. cultivated strawberries.
4. Toxin production in cyanobacteria under nutrient changes.
5. Natural coagulants for purifying contaminated water.
6. Growth patterns of mycorrhizal fungi in poor soils.
7. Chlorophyll levels in shade-tolerant vs. sun-loving plants.
8. Biofilm formation on materials in aquatic environments.
9. Regeneration rates of planarian worms after injuries.
10. Flowering times and temperature shifts in alpine plants.
11. Seed dispersal distances in tropical forest bird species.
12. Genetic diversity in urban wetland amphibians.
13. Biodegradable plastic breakdown in compost systems.
14. Light intensity and circadian rhythms in nocturnal animals.
15. Grazing herbivores and savanna biodiversity.

English Extended Essay Topics

1. Moral ambiguity in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
2. Narrative techniques in Beloved vs. One Hundred Years of Solitude.
3. Irony and social norms in Pride and Prejudice.
4. Isolation through imagery in The Road.
5. Motifs in The Catcher in the Rye.
6. Racial identity in To Kill a Mockingbird.
7. Female agency in Much Ado About Nothing vs. Twelfth Night.
8. Unreliable narrators in The Great Gatsby vs. Rebecca.
9. Colonial resistance in Derek Walcott’s poetry.
10. Dystopian societies in The Handmaid’s Tale vs. Brave New World.
11. Magical realism in Like Water for Chocolate.
12. Tragic flaws in Oedipus Rex vs. Hamlet.
13. War trauma in Wilfred Owen’s poetry.
14. Freedom vs. conformity in 1984.
15. Dialect and identity in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Physics Extended Essay Topics

1. Measuring how the speed of light changes in different liquids.
2. Observing gas pressure shifts when heating a sealed container.
3. Checking how wire thickness changes electrical resistance.
4. Seeing how the angle of a ramp changes the speed of rolling objects.
5. Investigating how lens curvature changes focal length in optics.
6. Testing which materials are better at blocking sound.
7. Exploring wave patterns in water at different frequencies.
8. Examining induction in coils with varying magnetic field strengths.
9. Measuring how rubber bands stretch at different temperatures.
10. Analyzing resonance in musical instruments at various frequencies.
11. Boiling water under different pressures to see boiling point changes.
12. Testing radio signal reception with antennas of different lengths.
13. Comparing how fast heat moves through various materials over time.
14. Studying how objects float in liquids with different densities.
15. Watching how surface area changes air resistance on falling objects.

Chemistry Extended Essay Topics

1. Decomposition rate of hydrogen peroxide with various catalysts.
2. Natural vs. synthetic antioxidants in preventing oil oxidation.
3. Kinetics of sodium thiosulfate and hydrochloric acid reaction.
4. Chemical composition and acidity of rainwater in urban vs. rural areas.
5. Solubility of salts in water at different temperatures.
6. pH effect on electroplating copper onto metals.
7. Energy content of biofuels from various plants.
8. Molecular structure and boiling points of organic compounds.
9. Effectiveness of water purification with activated charcoal.
10. Vitamin C decomposition in fruit juices at different temperatures.
11. Calcium ion concentration in tap water using EDTA titration.
12. Sunscreen compound efficiency in blocking UV radiation.
13. Corrosion rate of iron in saltwater under different conditions.
14. Maillard reaction in browning various bread types.
15. Biodiesel synthesis and stability from different vegetable oils.

Psychology Extended Essay Topics

1. Childhood trauma and anxiety disorders in adolescence.
2. Cognitive behavioral therapy in treating OCD.
3. Memory retention: Mnemonics vs. spaced repetition.
4. Sleep deprivation and decision-making in young adults.
5. Addiction to social media and psychological mechanisms.
6. Parenting styles and emotional regulation in children.
7. Bilingualism and problem-solving in children.
8. Cultural expectations and body image in teenagers.
9. Isolation and personality changes during COVID-19.
10. Groupthink and decision-making in high-stress events.
11. Personality traits and career satisfaction in adults.
12. Mindfulness meditation for PTSD symptom reduction.
13. Violent video games and aggression in adolescents.
14. Gender differences in emotional conflict resolution.
15. Mirror therapy for phantom limb pain.

Literature Extended Essay Topics

1. The fragmentation of identity in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
2. The use of stream-of-consciousness narrative in Ulysses by James Joyce.
3. The depiction of generational conflict in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
4. The representation of dystopian surveillance in We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.
5. The symbolism of the Mississippi River in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
6. The theme of colonial nostalgia in A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.
7. The exploration of spiritual disillusionment in The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot.
8. The depiction of lost innocence in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
9. Analyzing betrayal and loyalty in Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare.
10. The portrayal of madness in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.
11. The moral complexity of justice in Billy Budd by Herman Melville.
12. Themes of exile and alienation in Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie.
13. The subversion of heroism in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
14. The exploration of forbidden love in The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
15. The critique of materialism in Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.

History Extended Essay Topics

1. The Treaty of Tordesillas and its division of the New World.
2. Causes and consequences of the Salem Witch Trials.
3. The Berlin Conference and modern African borders.
4. Economic and political motives behind the Opium Wars.
5. Events leading to the partition of India in 1947.
6. Trench warfare strategies on the Western Front in WWI.
7. The Cuban Missile Crisis as a Cold War turning point.
8. Power consolidation during Catherine the Great’s early reign.
9. The Haitian Revolution and its global repercussions.
10. Propaganda in Nazi Germany before World War II.
11. Leadership styles in the English Civil War: Cromwell vs. Charles I.
12. Challenges of Reconstruction in the American South (1865–1877).
13. The rise of the Zulu Kingdom under Shaka Zulu.
14. Causes and outcomes of the Boxer Rebellion in China.
15. The Harlem Renaissance and African American cultural identity.

Economics Extended Essay Topics

1. Price ceilings on rental housing in New York City since the 1970s.
2. Causes of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe (2000–2009).
3. Minimum wage policies and youth unemployment in South Africa.
4. Brexit’s economic implications for UK-EU trade.
5. Demand elasticity for electric vehicles in the US.
6. Progressive taxation and income inequality in Nordic countries.
7. Growth of informal economies during Brazil’s recessions.
8. Foreign direct investment and the tech industry in India.
9. Government subsidies for renewable energy in Germany.
10. Supply chain disruptions in global food markets during COVID-19.
11. Tourism and GDP growth in small island nations like the Maldives.
12. Agricultural tariffs and US soybean exports to China.
13. Digital currencies and their implications for banking in Japan.
14. Economic drivers of urban-rural migration in Nigeria.
15. Pricing strategies for life-saving drugs in the US healthcare system.

Math Extended Essay Topics

1. Graph theory applications in urban traffic optimization.
2. Game theory modeling in competitive business decisions.
3. Mathematical structure of the Enigma code and its decryption.
4. Fractal geometry in nature: Self-similarity in coastlines.
5. SIR models for infectious disease spread.
6. Golden ratio and Fibonacci sequences in architecture.
7. Calculus in optimizing wind turbine designs.
8. Mathematics of Rubik’s Cube algorithms.
9. Randomness analysis in lottery number distributions.
10. Cryptography and RSA encryption in secure communication.
11. Differential equations in population growth models.
12. Probability in analyzing poker strategies.
13. Chaos theory in weather pattern prediction.
14. Geometric structures of tessellations in Islamic art.
15. Mathematical optimization in e-commerce supply chains.

Good Extended Essay Topics

1. Evolution of sustainable fashion in Europe (2010–2020).
2. Cultural significance of Japanese tea ceremonies today.
3. Economic factors driving electric vehicle adoption in Scandinavia.
4. Coral bleaching trends in the Great Barrier Reef over two decades.
5. Propaganda methods in World War I Europe.
6. Architectural innovation and population growth in Dubai.
7. Mathematical optimization of flight paths in aviation.
8. Deforestation effects on indigenous Amazonian communities.
9. Preservation techniques in ancient Egyptian mummification.
10. Street art’s history in Latin American political movements.
11. Gender disparities in STEM fields in the U.S. over 10 years.
12. Ethical challenges of gene editing technologies in medicine.
13. Transition from silent films to talkies in 1920s Hollywood.
14. Chemical properties of biodegradable plastics in pollution control.
15. Development of renewable energy in rural Sub-Saharan Africa.

Final Stretch: Your Extended Essay Toolkit

By now, you have a full list of ideas to help you tackle your extended essay topics. To make it easier, here are five categories that students tend to gravitate toward:

1. History – Exploring major events and their long-term outcomes.
2. Literature – Analyzing texts with thought-provoking themes and styles.
3. Biology – Investigating everything from ecosystems to genetic studies.
4. Psychology – Examining human behavior and the science behind it.
5. Economics – Unpacking policies, market trends, and financial systems.

If the process feels a bit overwhelming, remember you don’t have to do it alone. EssayHub can guide you through every step, helping you bring your ideas to life and craft an essay that’s uniquely yours. Take the stress out of the equation, and focus on creating something you’re proud of.