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SAT Subject Test: hysics

Subjects : sat, science, physics
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The phenomenon by which light traveling from a high n to a low n material will reflect from the optical interface if the incident angle is greater than the critical angle.






2. When electromagnetic radiation shines upon a metal - the surface of the metal releases energized electrons. The way in which these electrons are released contradicts classical theories of electromagnetic radiation and supports the quantum view accord






3. A machine that operates by taking heat from a hot place - doing some work with that heat - and then exhausting the rest of the heat into a cool place. The internal combustion engine of a car is an example of a heat engine.






4. The distance between the focal point and the vertex of a mirror or lens. For concave mirrors and convex lenses - this number is positive. For convex mirrors and concave lenses - this number is negative.






5. The ray of light that is reflected from a mirror or other reflecting surface.






6. The amount of energy that metal must absorb before it can release a photoelectron from the metal.






7. A small particle-like bundle of electromagnetic radiation.






8. An almost massless particle of neutral charge that is released along with a beta particle in beta decay.






9. The amount of heat of a material required to raise the temperature of either one kilogram or one gram of that material by one degree Celsius. Different units may be used depending on whether specific heat is measured in s of grams or kilograms - and






10. A vector quantity defined as the rate of change of the displacement vector with time. It is to be contrasted with speed - which is a scalar quantity for which no direction is specified.






11. The energy of the molecules that make up an object. It is related to heat - which is the amount of energy transferred from one object to another object that is a different temperature.






12. Represented by R = 8.31 J/mol · K - the universal gas constant fits into the ideal gas law so as to relate temperature to the average kinetic energy of gas molecules.






13. The temperature at which a material will change phase from liquid to gas or gas to liquid.






14. Energy cannot be made or destroyed; energy can only be changed from one place to another or from one form to another.






15. To every action - there is an equal and opposite reaction. If an object A exerts a force on another object B - B will exert on A a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force exerted by A.

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16. The force that binds protons and neutrons together in the atomic nucleus.






17. A wave with wave crests that propagate down the length of the medium - in contrast to stationary standing waves. The velocity at which a crest propagates is called the wave speed.






18. The application of kinematics to understand why objects move the way they do. More precisely - dynamics is the study of how forces cause motion.






19. When objects collide - each object feels a force for a short amount of time. This force imparts an impulse - or changes the momentum of each of the colliding objects. The momentum of a system is conserved in all kinds of collisions. Kinetic energy is






20. The ray of light that is refracted through a surface into a different medium.






21. The index of refraction n = c/v of a substance characterizes the speed of light in that substance - v. It also characterizes - by way of Snell's Law - the angle at which light refracts in that substance.






22. The points of maximum displacement along a wave. In traveling waves - the crests move in the direction of propagation of the wave. The crests of standing waves - also called anti-nodes - remain in one place.






23. Kinematics is the study and description of the motion of objects.






24. A vector quantity - equal to the rate of change of the angular velocity vector with time. It is typically given in units of rad/s2.






25. The time it takes a system to pass through one cycle of its repetitive motion. The period - T - is the inverse of the motion's frequency - f = 1/T.






26. A collision in which the colliding particles stick together.






27. Relates the angle of incidence to the angle of refraction: .

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28. An object that moves about a stable equilibrium point and experiences a restoring force that is directly proportional to the oscillator's displacement.






29. The process by which a solid turns directly into gas - because it cannot exist as a liquid at a certain pressure.






30. The time - T - required for a rigid body to complete one revolution.






31. The coefficient of kinetic friction - - for two materials is the constant of proportionality between the normal force and the force of kinetic friction. It is always a number between zero and one.






32. Given the trajectory of an object or system - the center of mass is the point that has the same acceleration as the object or system as a whole would have if its mass were concentrated at that point. In terms of force - the center of mass is the poin






33. A form of radioactive decay where a heavy element ejects a beta particle and a neutrino - becoming a lighter element in the process.






34. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tail of the arrow is the blunt end (the end without a point).






35. A sheet - film - or screen with a pattern of equally spaced slits. Typically the width of the slits and space between them is chosen to generate a particular diffraction pattern.






36. The building blocks of all matter - atoms are made up of a nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons - and a number of electrons that orbit the nucleus. An electrically neutral atom has as many protons as it has electrons.






37. The principle stating that for any isolated system - linear momentum is constant with time.






38. Done when energy is transferred by a force. The work done by a force F in displacing an object by s is W = F · s.






39. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






40. For an oscillating spring - the restoring force exerted by the spring is directly proportional to the displacement. That is - the more the spring is displaced - the stronger the force that will pull toward the equilibrium position. This law is expres

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41. A positively charged particle that - along with the neutron - occupies the nucleus of the atom.






42. The angle between a reflected ray and the normal.






43. The number - N - of neutrons in an atomic nucleus.






44. The property by which a changing current in one coil of wire induces an emf in another.






45. A logorithmic unit for measuring the volume of sound - which is the square of the amplitude of sound waves.






46. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






47. A negatively charged particle that orbits the nucleus of the atom.






48. Energy associated with an object's position in space - or configuration in relation to other objects. This is a latent form of energy - where the amount of potential energy reflects the amount of energy that potentially could be released as kinetic e






49. For a gas held at a constant temperature - pressure and volume are inversely proportional.

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50. A wedge or a slide. The dynamics of objects sliding down inclined planes is a popular topic on SAT II Physics.