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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 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.






2. The model of the atom according to which negatively charged electrons orbit a positively charged nucleus. This model was developed by Ernest Rutherford in light of the results from his gold foil experiment.






3. A device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy by rotating a coil in a magnetic field; sometimes called a "dynamo."






4. In an interference or diffraction pattern - the places where there is the most light.






5. The movement of a rigid body's center of mass in space.






6. A device made of two coils - which converts current of one voltage into current of another voltage. In a step-up transformer - the primary coil has fewer turns than the secondary - thus increasing the voltage. In a step-down transformer - the seconda






7. A vector quantity - commonly denoted by the vector s - which reflects an object's change in spatial position. The displacement vector points from the object's starting position to the object's current position in space. If an object is moved from poi






8. A force caused by the roughness of two materials in contact - deformations in the materials - and a molecular attraction between the materials. Frictional forces are always parallel to the plane of contact between two surfaces and opposite the direct






9. A transverse traveling wave created by the oscillations of an electric field and a magnetic field. Electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light - m/s. Examples include microwaves - X rays - and visible light.






10. Indicates how "bouncy" or "stiff" a spring is. More specifically - the spring constant - k - is the constant of proportionality between the restoring force exerted by the spring - and the spring's displacement from equilibrium. The greater the value






11. A number - Z - associated with the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. Every element can be defined in s of its atomic number - since every atom of a given element has the same number of protons.






12. The energy associated with the configuration of bodies attracted to each other by the gravitational force. It is a measure of the amount of work necessary to get the two bodies from a chosen point of reference to their present position. This point of






13. Given the period - T - and semimajor axis - a - of a planet's orbit - the ratio is the same for every planet.

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

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15. A vector quantity defined as the product of the force acting on a body multiplied by the time interval over which the force is exerted.






16. In a right triangle - the tangent of a given angle is the length of the side opposite the angle divided by the length of the side adjacent to the triangle.






17. A particle - which consists of two protons and two neutrons. It is identical to the nucleus of a helium atom and is ejected by heavy particles undergoing alpha decay.






18. The unit of magnetic flux - equal to one T · m2.






19. The phenomenon of light bouncing off a surface - such as a mirror.






20. Linear momentum - p - commonly called "momentum" for short - is a vector quantity defined as the product of an object's mass - m - and its velocity - v.






21. In the Bohr model of the atom - the state in which an electron has the least energy and orbits closest to the nucleus.






22. 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.






23. A unit of force: 1 N is equivalent to a 1 kg · m/s2.






24. The amplification of one wave by another - identical wave of the same sign. Two constructively interfering waves are said to be "in phase."






25. Atoms of the same element may have different numbers of neutrons and therefore different masses. Atoms of the same element but with different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes of the same element.






26. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.






27. The current induced in a circuit by a change in magnetic flux.






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






29. The center of a mirror or lens.






30. The angle between a refracted ray and the line normal to the surface.






31. A constant - - not to be confused with wavelength - that defines the speed at which a radioactive element undergoes decay. The greater is - the faster the element decays.






32. For two given media - the smallest angle of incidence at which total internal reflection occurs.






33. The mass difference between a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the constituent protons and neutrons.






34. A unit vector is a vector with length 1.






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






36. A unit of measurement for energy on atomic levels. 1 eV = J.






37. In oscillation - a cycle occurs when an object undergoing oscillatory motion completes a "round-trip." For instance - a pendulum bob released at angle has completed one cycle when it swings to and then back to again. In period motion - a cycle is the






38. A vector quantity - or vector - is an object possessing - and fully described by - a magnitude and a direction. Graphically a vector is depicted as an arrow with its magnitude given by the length of the arrow and its direction given by where the arro






39. A model for the atom developed in 1913 by Niels Bohr. According to this model - the electrons orbiting a nucleus can only orbit at certain particular radii. Excited electrons may jump to a more distant radii and then return to their ground state - em






40. The speed at which a wave crest or trough propagates. Note that this is not the speed at which the actual medium (like the stretched string or the air particles) moves.






41. The spectrum containing all the different kinds of electromagnetic waves - ranging in wavelength and frequency.






42. A class of elementary particle whose mass is between that of a proton and that of an electron. A common kind of meson is the pion.






43. 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.






44. The sum of a system's potential and kinetic energy. In many systems - including projectiles - pulleys - pendulums - and motion on frictionless surfaces - mechanical energy is conserved. One important type of problem in which mechanical energy is not






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






46. For a gas held at constant pressure - temperature and volume are directly proportional.

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47. Objects that experience oscillatory or simple harmonic motion when distorted. Their motion is described by Hooke's Law.






48. A unit for measuring angles; also called a "rad." 2p rad = 360º.






49. In a right triangle - the sine of a given angle is the length of the side opposite the angle divided by the length of the hypotenuse.






50. A property common to both vectors and scalars. In the graphical representation of a vector - the vector's magnitude is equal to the length of the arrow.