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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. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tail of the arrow is the blunt end (the end without a point).






2. 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.






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






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






5. 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.






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






8. 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.






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






10. 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.






11. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






12. Waves produced by a source that is moving with respect to the observer will seem to have a higher frequency and smaller wavelength if the motion is towards the observer - and a lower frequency and longer wavelength if the motion is away from the obse






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






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






15. A positively charged particle that - along with the neutron - occupies the nucleus of the atom.






16. In a right triangle - the tangent of a given angle is the length of the side opposite the angle divided by the length of the side adjacent to the triangle.






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






18. 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.






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






20. 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.






21. The force involved in beta decay that changes a proton to a neutron and releases an electron and a neutrino.






22. 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.






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






24. 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.






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






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






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






28. The standing wave with the lowest frequency that is supported by a string with both ends tied down is called the fundamental - or resonance - of the string. The wavelength of the fundamental is twice the length of the string - .






29. The motion of a body in a circular path with constant speed.






30. Heat transfer by molecular collisions.






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






33. The separation of different color light via refraction.






34. 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.






35. 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.






36. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.






37. 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






38. 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






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






40. 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).






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






43. An object that retains its overall shape - meaning that the particles that make up the rigid body stay in the same position relative to one another.






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






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

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46. States that the net work done on an object is equal to the object's change in kinetic energy.






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






48. The bending of light at the corners of objects or as it passes through narrow slits or apertures.






49. A push or a pull that causes an object to accelerate.






50. 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