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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. A back-and-forth movement about an equilibrium position. Springs - pendulums - and other oscillators experience harmonic motion.






2. A means of defining the direction of the cross product vector. To define the direction of the vector - position your right hand so that your fingers point in the direction of A - and then curl them around so that they point in the direction of B. Th






3. The units of frequency - defined as inverse-seconds (1 Hz = 1 s-1). "Hertz" can be used interchangeably with "cycles per second."






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






5. The points midway between nodes on a standing wave - where the oscillations are largest.






6. A property of a metal - the minimum frequency of electromagnetic radiation that is necessary to release photoelectrons from that metal.






7. Life- The amount of time it takes for one-half of a radioactive sample to decay.






8. The points on a standing wave where total destructive interference causes the medium to remain fixed at its equilibrium position.






9. The square of the amplitude of a sound wave is called the sound's loudness - or volume.






10. 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






11. The amount of error that's possible in a given measurement.






12. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






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






14. A mirror that is curved such that its center is closer to the viewer than the edges - such as a doorknob. Convex mirrors reflect light away from a focal point.






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






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






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






18. 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.






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






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






21. 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.






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






23. The force necessary to maintain a body in uniform circular motion. This force is always directed radially toward the center of the circle.






24. An image created by a mirror or lens in such a way that light does actually come from where the image appears to be. If you place a screen in front of a real image - the image will be projected onto the screen.






25. If the net torque acting on a rigid body is zero - then the angular momentum of the body is constant or conserved.






26. 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.






27. A device that breaks incoming light down into spectral rays - so that one can see the exact wavelength constituents of the light.






28. 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.






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






30. The points of maximum negative displacement along a wave. They are the opposite of wave crests.






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






32. Also called a diverging lens - a lens that is thinner in the middle than at the edges. Concave lenses refract light away from a focal point.






33. The net change - - in a point's angular position - . It is a scalar quantity.






34. Two quantities are directly proportional if an increase in one results in a proportional increase in the other - and a decrease in one results in a proportional decrease in the other. In a formula defining a certain quantity - those quantities to whi






35. 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.






36. With spherical mirrors - the radius of the sphere of which the mirror is a part.






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






38. The emf created by the motion of a charge through a magnetic field.






39. The line that every particle in the rotating rigid body circles about.






40. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.






41. 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






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






43. 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






44. The temperature at which a material will change phase from solid to liquid or liquid to solid.






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






46. The joule (J) is the unit of work and energy. A joule is 1 N · m or 1 kg · m2/s2.






47. States that the current induced in a circuit by a change in magnetic flux is in the direction that will oppose that change in flux. Using the right-hand rule - point your thumb in the opposite direction of the change in magnetic flux. The direction y

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48. 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






49. The center of an atom - where the protons and neutrons reside. Electrons then orbit this nucleus.






50. 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