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






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






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

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4. 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.






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






6. 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






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






9. 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).






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






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

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12. 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.






13. The line perpendicular to a surface. There is only one normal for any given surface.






14. The distance between the focal point and the vertex of a mirror or lens. For concave mirrors and convex lenses - this number is positive. For convex mirrors and concave lenses - this number is negative.






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






16. An area of high air pressure that acts as the wave trough for sound waves. The spacing between successive rarefactions is the wavelength of sound - and the number of successive areas of rarefaction that arrive at the ear per second is the frequency -






17. The particles and energy released by the fission or fusion of one atom may trigger the fission or fusion of further atoms. In a chain reaction - fission or fusion is rapidly transferred to a large number of atoms - releasing tremendous amounts of ene






18. The force that binds protons and neutrons together in the atomic nucleus.






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






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






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






22. 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.






23. In reference to oscillation - amplitude is the maximum displacement of the oscillator from its equilibrium position. Amplitude tells how far an oscillator is swinging back and forth. In periodic motion - amplitude is the maximum displacement in each






24. 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.






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






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






27. 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.






28. 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.






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






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






31. A vector quantity defined as the product of the force acting on a body multiplied by the time interval over which the force is exerted.






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






34. When objects collide - each object feels a force for a short amount of time. This force imparts an impulse - or changes the momentum of each of the colliding objects. The momentum of a system is conserved in all kinds of collisions. Kinetic energy is






35. The number of hydrogen atoms in one gram of hydrogen - equal to . When counting the number of molecules in a gas - it is often convenient to count them in moles.






36. A particle - identical to an electron. Beta particles are ejected from an atom in the process of beta decay.






37. 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






38. A form of radioactivity where an excited atom releases a photon of gamma radiation - thereby returning to a lower energy state. The atomic structure itself does not change in the course of gamma radiation.






39. The speed at which a wave crest or trough propagates. Note that this is not the speed at which the actual medium (like the stretched string or the air particles) moves.






40. A coefficient that tells how much a material will expand or contract lengthwise when it is heated or cooled.






41. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.






42. The force that causes simple harmonic motion. The restoring force is always directed toward an object's equilibrium position.






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






44. The number - N - of neutrons in an atomic nucleus.






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






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






47. 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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48. 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.






49. The ray of light that is reflected from a mirror or other reflecting surface.






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