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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. If two systems - A and B - are in thermal equilibrium and if B and C are also in thermal equilibrium - then systems A and C are necessarily in thermal equilibrium.






2. 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.






3. For an oscillating spring - the restoring force exerted by the spring is directly proportional to the displacement. That is - the more the spring is displaced - the stronger the force that will pull toward the equilibrium position. This law is expres

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4. 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






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






6. 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






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






8. The amplification of one wave by another - identical wave of the same sign. Two constructively interfering waves are said to be "in phase."






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






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






11. With spherical mirrors - the center of the sphere of which the mirror is a part. All of the normals pass through it.






12. A measurement of a body's inertia - or resistance to being accelerated.






13. 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






14. 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 .






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






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






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






18. 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






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






20. The energy of a particle moving in space. It is defined in s of a particle's mass - m - and velocity - v - as (1/2)mv2.






21. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






22. A particle - which consists of two protons and two neutrons. It is identical to the nucleus of a helium atom and is ejected by heavy particles undergoing alpha decay.






23. 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.






24. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






25. A coefficient that tells how much the volume of a solid will change when it is heated or cooled.






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






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






28. Two quantities are inversely proportional if an increase in one results in a proportional decrease in the other - and a decrease in one results in a proportional increase in the other. In a formula defining a certain quantity - those quantities to wh






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






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






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






32. Relates the angle of incidence to the angle of refraction: .

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33. 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.






34. The units of frequency - defined as inverse-seconds (1 Hz = 1 s-1). "Hertz" can be used interchangeably with "cycles per second."






35. A nuclear reaction that takes place only at very high temperatures. Two light atoms - often hydrogen - fuse together to form a larger single atom - releasing a vast amount of energy in the process.






36. The points of maximum displacement along a wave. In traveling waves - the crests move in the direction of propagation of the wave. The crests of standing waves - also called anti-nodes - remain in one place.






37. 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.






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






39. 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.






40. The unit of magnetic flux - equal to one T · m2.






41. 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.






42. 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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43. 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 -






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






45. 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.






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






47. With spherical mirrors - the radius of the sphere of which the mirror is a part.






48. 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).






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






50. 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.