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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. 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 -






2. A force caused by the roughness of two materials in contact - deformations in the materials - and a molecular attraction between the materials. Frictional forces are always parallel to the plane of contact between two surfaces and opposite the direct






3. 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.






4. For two given media - the smallest angle of incidence at which total internal reflection occurs.






5. 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.






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






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






9. A mirror that is curved such that its center is closer to the viewer than the edges - such as a doorknob. Convex mirrors reflect light away from a focal point.






10. 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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11. A unit for measuring angles; also called a "rad." 2p rad = 360º.






12. The points on a standing wave where total destructive interference causes the medium to remain fixed at its equilibrium position.






13. The disorder of a system.






14. The line that every particle in the rotating rigid body circles about.






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






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






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






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






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






20. An image created by a mirror or lens in such a way that light does actually come from where the image appears to be. If you place a screen in front of a real image - the image will be projected onto the screen.






21. 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.






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






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

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






25. The amount of heat necessary to transform a solid at a given temperature into a liquid of the same temperature - or the amount of heat needed to be removed from a liquid of a given temperature to transform it into a solid of the same temperature.






26. 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.






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






28. 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






29. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






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

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31. 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.






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






33. 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.






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






35. An object is called radioactive if it undergoes radioactive decay.






36. When a light ray strikes a surface - the angle of incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the normal.






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

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38. 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.






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






40. A scalar quantity that tells us how fast an object is moving. It measures the rate of change in distance over time. Speed is to be contrasted with velocity in that there is no direction associated with speed.






41. A unit of measurement for energy on atomic levels. 1 eV = J.






42. A constant - J · s - which is useful in quantum physics. A second constant associated with Planck's constant is .

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






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






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






46. 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.






47. A means of defining the direction of the cross product vector. To define the direction of the vector - position your right hand so that your fingers point in the direction of A - and then curl them around so that they point in the direction of B. Th






48. 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






49. The constant of proportionality in Newton's Law of Gravitation. It reflects the proportion of the gravitational force and - the product of two particles' masses divided by the square of the bodies' separation. N · m2/kg2.






50. The mass difference between a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the constituent protons and neutrons.