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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 reference frame in which Newton's First Law is true. Two inertial reference frames move at a constant velocity relative to one another. According to the first postulate of Einstein's theory of special relativity - the laws of physics are the same i






2. A rough approximation of how gases work - that is quite accurate in everyday conditions. According to the kinetic theory - gases are made up of tiny - round molecules that move about in accordance with Newton's Laws - and collide with one another and






3. 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.






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






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






6. 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






7. For a heat engine - the ratio of work done by the engine to heat intake. Efficiency is never 100%.






8. When two waves of slightly different frequencies interfere with one another - they produce a "beating" interference pattern that alternates between constructive (in-phase) and destructive (out-of-phase). In the case of sound waves - this sort of inte






9. A measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a system. Temperature is related to heat by the specific heat of a given substance.






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






11. 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.






12. 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.






13. 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.






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






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






16. In radioactive substances - the number of nuclei that decay per second. Activity - A - will be larger in large samples of radioactive material - since there will be more nuclei.






17. The property by which a changing current in one coil of wire induces an emf in another.






18. When a light ray strikes a surface - the angle of incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the normal.






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






20. The dot product of the area and the magnetic field passing through it. Graphically - it is a measure of the number and length of magnetic field lines passing through that area. It is measured in Webers (Wb).






21. 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






22. A wave that interferes with its own reflection so as to produce oscillations which stand still - rather than traveling down the length of the medium. Standing waves on a string with both ends tied down make up the harmonic series.






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

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24. Another word for the frequency of a sound wave.






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






26. 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.






27. 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.






28. The process by which a gas turns directly into a solid because it cannot exist as a liquid at certain pressures.






29. A system that no external net force acts upon. Objects within the system may exert forces upon one another - but they cannot receive any impulse from outside forces. Momentum is conserved in isolated systems.






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






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






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






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






34. 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






35. 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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36. The bending of light as it passes from one medium to another. Light refracts toward the normal when going from a less dense medium into a denser medium and away from the normal when going from a denser medium into a less dense medium.






37. 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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38. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






39. A vector of magnitude 1 along one of the coordinate axes. Generally - we take the basis vectors to be and - the vectors of length 1 along the x- and y-axes - respectively.






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






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






42. The mass number - A - is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus. It is very close to the weight of that nucleus in atomic mass units.






43. 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.






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






45. 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.






46. 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.






47. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.






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






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






50. 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.