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






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






3. Given the period - T - and semimajor axis - a - of a planet's orbit - the ratio is the same for every planet.

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4. 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.






5. A scale for measuring temperature - defined such that water freezes at 0ºC and boils at 100ºC. 0ºC = 273 K.






6. A measure of force per unit area. Pressure is measured in N/m2 or Pa.






7. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






8. 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.






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






10. Body diagram- Illustrates the forces acting on an object - drawn as vectors originating from the center of the object.






11. Light such that all of the associated waves have the same wavelength and are in phase.






12. Occurs when every point in the rigid body moves in a circular path around a line called the axis of rotation.






13. 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






14. The model of the atom according to which negatively charged electrons orbit a positively charged nucleus. This model was developed by Ernest Rutherford in light of the results from his gold foil experiment.






15. The distance between successive wave crests - or troughs. Wavelength is measured in meters and is related to frequency and wave speed by = v/f.






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






17. The lowest theoretical temperature a material can have - where the molecules that make up the material have no kinetic energy. Absolute zero is reached at 0 K or -273º C.






18. 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.






19. Energy associated with the state of motion. The translational kinetic energy of an object is given by the equation .






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






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






22. In an interference or diffraction pattern - the places where there is the least light.






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






24. The angle between a refracted ray and the line normal to the surface.






25. 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






26. The temperature at which a material will change phase from liquid to gas or gas to liquid.






27. 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






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






29. A transfer of thermal energy. We don't speak about systems "having" heat - but about their "transferring" heat - much in the way that dynamical systems don't "have" work - but rather "do" work.






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






31. When a solid - liquid - or gas changes into another phase of matter.






32. The building blocks of all matter - atoms are made up of a nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons - and a number of electrons that orbit the nucleus. An electrically neutral atom has as many protons as it has electrons.






33. A quantity that possesses a magnitude but not a direction. Mass and length are common examples.






34. 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.






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






36. Heat transfer by molecular collisions.






37. 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.






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






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






40. 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






41. Represented by R = 8.31 J/mol · K - the universal gas constant fits into the ideal gas law so as to relate temperature to the average kinetic energy of gas molecules.






42. A sheet - film - or screen with a pattern of equally spaced slits. Typically the width of the slits and space between them is chosen to generate a particular diffraction pattern.






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






44. 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 .






45. A conserved scalar quantity associated with the state or condition of an object or system of objects. We can roughly define energy as the capacity for an object or system to do work. There are many different types of energy - such as kinetic energy -






46. Energy cannot be made or destroyed; energy can only be changed from one place to another or from one form to another.






47. Two materials are in thermal equilibrium if they are at the same temperature.






48. A form of radioactive decay where a heavy element ejects a beta particle and a neutrino - becoming a lighter element in the process.






49. When an object is held in circular motion about a massive body - like a planet or a sun - due to the force of gravity - that object is said to be in orbit. Objects in orbit are in perpetual free fall - and so are therefore weightless.






50. The stable position of a system where the net force acting on the object is zero.