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

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2. 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






3. Also called a converging lens - a lens that is thicker in the middle than at the edges. Convex lenses refract light through a focal point.






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






5. 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






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






7. A constant - J · s - which is useful in quantum physics. A second constant associated with Planck's constant is .

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






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






10. A process that aligns a wave of light to oscillate in one dimension rather than two.






11. 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






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






13. The bending of light at the corners of objects or as it passes through narrow slits or apertures.






14. A system with many parts in periodic - or repetitive - motion. The oscillations in one part cause vibrations in nearby parts.






15. The principle by which the displacements from different waves traveling in the same medium add up. Superposition is the basis for interference.






16. An area of high air pressure that acts as the wave trough for sound waves. The spacing between successive rarefactions is the wavelength of sound - and the number of successive areas of rarefaction that arrive at the ear per second is the frequency -






17. 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






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






19. The force between two surfaces moving relative to one another. The frictional force is parallel to the plane of contact between the two objects and in the opposite direction of the sliding object's motion.






20. A collision in which both kinetic energy and momentum are conserved.






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






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






23. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






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






25. The acceleration of a body experiencing uniform circular motion. This acceleration is always directed toward the center of the circle.






26. Heat transfer by molecular collisions.






27. The ratio of the size of the image produced by a mirror or lens to the size of the original object. This number is negative if the image is upside-down.






28. The building blocks of all matter - quarks are the constituent parts of protons - neutrons - and mesons.






29. 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.






30. A vector quantity defined as the rate of change of the velocity vector with time.






31. The disorder of a system.






32. 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.






33. States that the net work done on an object is equal to the object's change in kinetic energy.






34. If a line is drawn from the sun to the planet - then the area swept out by this line in a given time interval is constant.

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35. The standing wave with the lowest frequency that is supported by a string with both ends tied down is called the fundamental - or resonance - of the string. The wavelength of the fundamental is twice the length of the string - .






36. The tendency of an object to remain at a constant velocity - or its resistance to being accelerated. Newton's First Law is alternatively called the Law of Inertia because it describes this tendency.






37. The number of cycles executed by a system in one second. Frequency is the inverse of period - f = 1/T. Frequency is measured in hertz - Hz.






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






39. The particles and energy released by the fission or fusion of one atom may trigger the fission or fusion of further atoms. In a chain reaction - fission or fusion is rapidly transferred to a large number of atoms - releasing tremendous amounts of ene






40. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tip of the arrow is the pointy end.






41. 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.






42. The amount of heat necessary for a material undergoing sublimation to make a phase change from gas to solid or solid to gas - without a change in temperature.






43. The velocity at any given instant in time. To be contrasted with average velocity - which is a measure of the change in displacement over a given time interval.






44. The experience of being in free fall. If you are in a satellite - elevator - or other free-falling object - then you have a weight of zero Newtons relative to that object.






45. A frequency - f - defined as the number of revolutions a rigid body makes in a given time interval. It is a scalar quantity commonly denoted in units of Hertz (Hz) or s-1.






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. The gravitational force exerted on a given mass.






49. 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.






50. The position - of an object according to a co-ordinate system measured in s of the angle of the object from a certain origin axis. Conventionally - this origin axis is the positive x-axis.