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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. 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






2. Heat transfer via the mass movement of molecules.






3. A body or set of bodies that we choose to analyze as a group.






4. 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






5. 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.






6. F = ma. The net force - F - acting on an object causes the object to accelerate - a. The magnitude of the acceleration is directly proportional to the net force on the object and inversely proportional to the mass - m - of the object.


7. A form of vector multiplication - where two vectors are multiplied to produce a scalar. The dot product of two vectors - A and B - is expressed by the equation A · B = AB cos .






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






9. The energy of a particle rotating around an axis.






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






11. 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.






12. 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.






13. The substance that is displaced as a wave propagates through it. Air is the medium for sound waves - the string is the medium of transverse waves on a string - and water is the medium for ocean waves. Note that even if the waves in a given medium tra






14. A form of radioactivity where an excited atom releases a photon of gamma radiation - thereby returning to a lower energy state. The atomic structure itself does not change in the course of gamma radiation.






15. The disorder of a system.






16. The center of a mirror or lens.






17. 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






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






19. 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.






20. 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.






21. The number of digits that have been accurately measured. When combining several measurements in a formula - the resulting calculation can only have as many significant digits as the measurement that has the smallest number of significant digits.






22. The constant of proportionality in Newton's Law of Gravitation. It reflects the proportion of the gravitational force and - the product of two particles' masses divided by the square of the bodies' separation. N · m2/kg2.






23. The force involved in beta decay that changes a proton to a neutron and releases an electron and a neutrino.






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






25. A scale for measuring temperature - defined such that water freezes at 0ºC and boils at 100ºC. 0ºC = 273 K.






26. When an object is held in circular motion about a massive body - like a planet or a sun - due to the force of gravity - that object is said to be in orbit. Objects in orbit are in perpetual free fall - and so are therefore weightless.






27. 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






28. Energy associated with the state of motion. The translational kinetic energy of an object is given by the equation .






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






30. A pendulum consists of a bob connected to a rod or rope. At small angles - a pendulum's motion approximates simple harmonic motion as it swings back and forth without friction.






31. In an interference or diffraction pattern - the places where there is the least light.






32. The amount heat necessary to cause a substance to undergo a phase transition.






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






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






35. Occurs when every point in the rigid body moves in a circular path around a line called the axis of rotation.






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


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






38. A coefficient that tells how much the volume of a solid will change when it is heated or cooled.






39. 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.


40. A vector quantity - L - that is the rotational analogue of linear momentum. For a single particle - the angular momentum is the cross product of the particle's displacement from the axis of rotation and the particle's linear momentum - . For a rigid






41. The distance between successive wave crests - or troughs. Wavelength is measured in meters and is related to frequency and wave speed by = v/f.






42. A wave on a string that is tied to a pole at one end will reflect back toward its source - producing a wave that is the mirror-image of the original and which travels in the opposite direction.






43. An equation - PV = nRT - that relates the pressure - volume - temperature - and quantity of an ideal gas. An ideal gas is one that obeys the approximations laid out in the kinetic theory of gases.






44. The name of an electron released from the surface of a metal due to the photoelectric effect.






45. 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.






46. A conserved scalar quantity associated with the state or condition of an object or system of objects. We can roughly define energy as the capacity for an object or system to do work. There are many different types of energy - such as kinetic energy -






47. The line perpendicular to a surface. There is only one normal for any given surface.






48. A coefficient that tells how much a material will expand or contract lengthwise when it is heated or cooled.






49. A scalar quantity that tells us how fast an object is moving. It measures the rate of change in distance over time. Speed is to be contrasted with velocity in that there is no direction associated with speed.






50. A transfer of thermal energy from one system to another.