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






2. 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.






3. A vector quantity - - that reflects the change of angular displacement with time - and is typically given in units of rad/s. To find the direction of the angular velocity vector - take your right hand and curl your fingers along the particle or body






4. A pulley is a simple machine that consists of a rope that slides around a disk or block.






5. 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.






6. Two oscillators that have the same frequency and amplitude - but reach their maximum displacements at different times - are said to have different phases. Similarly - two waves are in phase if their crests and troughs line up exactly - and they are o






7. The reaction force of the ground - a table - etc. - when an object is placed upon it. The normal force is a direct consequence of Newton's Third Law: when an object is placed on the ground - the ground pushes back with the same force that it is pushe






8. 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.






9. A wavelength - given by = h/mv - which is associated with matter. Louis de Broglie proposed the idea that matter could be treated as waves in 1923 and applied this theory successfully to small particles like electrons.






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






12. The energy of a particle moving in space. It is defined in s of a particle's mass - m - and velocity - v - as (1/2)mv2.






13. A scalar quantity. If an object is moved from point A to point B in space along path AB - the distance that the object has traveled is the length of the path AB. Distance is to be contrasted with displacement - which is simply a measure of the distan






14. An image created by a mirror or lens in such a way that light does not actually come from where the image appears to be.






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






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

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






18. 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 .






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






20. The path of each planet around the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus.

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21. 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.






22. An experiment in 1879 that showed that the speed of light is constant to all observers. Einstein used the results of this experiment as support for his theory of special relativity.






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






24. 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.






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. The force that causes simple harmonic motion. The restoring force is always directed toward an object's equilibrium position.






27. A form of radioactive decay where a heavy element emits an alpha particle and some energy - thus transforming into a lighter - more stable - element.






28. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






29. A neutrally charged particle that - along with protons - constitutes the nucleus of an atom.






30. The five equations used to solve problems in kinematics in one dimension with uniform acceleration.






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






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






33. The force of gravity - F - between two particles of mass and - separated by a distance r - has a magnitude of - where G is the gravitational constant. The force is directed along the line joining the two particles.

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34. 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






35. 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.






36. 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






37. The process by which unstable nuclei spontaneously release particles and/or energy so as to come to a more stable arrangement. The most common forms of radioactive decay are alpha decay - beta decay - and gamma decay.






38. The cancellation of one wave by another wave that is exactly out of phase with the first. Despite the dramatic name of this phenomenon - nothing is "destroyed" by this interference—the two waves emerge intact once they have passed each other.






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






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






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






43. 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 - .






44. 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.






45. The state of a nonrotating object upon whom the net torque acting is zero.






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






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






48. The amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. 1 cal = 4.19 J.






49. The straight line that runs through the focal point and the vertex of a mirror or lens.






50. 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.