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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 constant - - not to be confused with wavelength - that defines the speed at which a radioactive element undergoes decay. The greater is - the faster the element decays.






2. The study of the properties of visible light - i.e. - the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths between 360 and 780 nm (1 nm = m/s).






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






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

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5. The velocity at any given instant in time. To be contrasted with average velocity - which is a measure of the change in displacement over a given time interval.






6. A vector quantity defined as the rate of change of the velocity vector with time.






7. For a reflected light ray - . In other words - a ray of light reflects of a surface in the same plane as the incident ray and the normal - and at an angle to the normal that is equal to the angle between the incident ray and the normal.






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






9. The center of a mirror or lens.






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






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






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






13. 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






14. Any vector can be expressed as the sum of two mutually perpendicular component vectors. Usually - but not always - these components are multiples of the basis vectors - and ; that is - vectors along the x-axis and y-axis. We define these two vectors






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






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






17. 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.






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






19. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






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






21. 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






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






23. 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






24. 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.






25. A law - || = - which states that the induced emf is the change in magnetic flux in a certain time.

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






27. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tip of the arrow is the pointy end.






28. 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.






29. The substance that is displaced as a wave propagates through it. Air is the medium for sound waves - the string is the medium of transverse waves on a string - and water is the medium for ocean waves. Note that even if the waves in a given medium tra






30. 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






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






32. A vector quantity - or vector - is an object possessing - and fully described by - a magnitude and a direction. Graphically a vector is depicted as an arrow with its magnitude given by the length of the arrow and its direction given by where the arro






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






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 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.






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






37. 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.






38. A transfer of thermal energy from one system to another.






39. 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






40. 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.






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






42. A machine that operates by taking heat from a hot place - doing some work with that heat - and then exhausting the rest of the heat into a cool place. The internal combustion engine of a car is an example of a heat engine.






43. In a right triangle - the sine of a given angle is the length of the side opposite the angle divided by the length of the hypotenuse.






44. 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.






45. The principle by which the displacements from different waves traveling in the same medium add up. Superposition is the basis for interference.






46. 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






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






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






49. 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






50. The spectrum containing all the different kinds of electromagnetic waves - ranging in wavelength and frequency.