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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. An experiment by Ernest Rutherford that proved for the first time that atoms have nuclei.






2. 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.






3. 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.






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






5. 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.






6. 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






7. 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.






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






9. The amount of heat necessary to transform a solid at a given temperature into a liquid of the same temperature - or the amount of heat needed to be removed from a liquid of a given temperature to transform it into a solid of the same temperature.






10. Essentially a restatement of energy conservation - it states that the change in the internal energy of a system is equal to the heat added plus the work done on the system.






11. The force between two surfaces that are not moving relative to one another. The force of static friction is parallel to the plane of contact between the two objects and resists the force pushing or pulling on the object.






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






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






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






15. The cosine of an angle in a right triangle is equal to the length of the side adjacent to the angle divided by the length of the hypotenuse.






16. The property of a vector that distinguishes it from a scalar: while scalars have only a magnitude - vectors have both a magnitude and a direction. When graphing vectors in the xy-coordinate space - direction is usually given by the angle measured cou






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






18. 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






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






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






21. The longest side of a right triangle - opposite to the right angle.






22. 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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23. A collision in which the colliding particles stick together.






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






25. An object at rest remains at rest - unless acted upon by a net force. An object in motion remains in motion - unless acted upon by a net force.

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26. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.






27. 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.






28. 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.






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






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






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

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32. A collision in which momentum is conserved but kinetic energy is not.






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






34. 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.






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






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






37. 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).






38. When dealing with reflection or refraction - the incident ray is the ray of light before it strikes the reflecting or refracting surface.






39. 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.






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






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






42. 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.






43. 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.

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44. The energy stored in a thermodynamic system.






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






46. The ray of light that is refracted through a surface into a different medium.






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






48. 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






49. The center of a mirror or lens.






50. 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