Test your basic knowledge |

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






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






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






4. 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.






5. An experiment in 1879 that showed that the speed of light is constant to all observers. Einstein used the results of this experiment as support for his theory of special relativity.






6. 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






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






8. Linear momentum - p - commonly called "momentum" for short - is a vector quantity defined as the product of an object's mass - m - and its velocity - v.






9. A wave with wave crests that propagate down the length of the medium - in contrast to stationary standing waves. The velocity at which a crest propagates is called the wave speed.






10. The disorder of a system.






11. 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






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






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






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






15. Energy cannot be made or destroyed; energy can only be changed from one place to another or from one form to another.






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






17. Waves that oscillate in the same direction as the propagation of the wave. Sound is carried by longitudinal waves - since the air molecules move back and forth in the same direction the sound travels.






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

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


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






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






21. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






22. 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.






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






24. A number - Z - associated with the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. Every element can be defined in s of its atomic number - since every atom of a given element has the same number of protons.






25. The property by which a charge moving in a magnetic field creates an electric field.






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






27. 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

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


28. 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.






29. 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






30. The path of each planet around the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus.

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


31. A frequency - f - defined as the number of revolutions a rigid body makes in a given time interval. It is a scalar quantity commonly denoted in units of Hertz (Hz) or s-1.






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






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






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






35. 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






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






37. An area of high air pressure that acts as the wave crest for sound waves. The spacing between successive compressions is the wavelength of sound - and the number of successive areas of compression that arrive at the ear per second is the frequency -






38. A scale for measuring temperature - defined such that 0K is the lowest theoretical temperature a material can have. 273K = 0ºC.






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






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






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






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






43. 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.






44. 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






45. If a line is drawn from the sun to the planet - then the area swept out by this line in a given time interval is constant.

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


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






47. 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






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






49. A vector quantity - commonly denoted by the vector s - which reflects an object's change in spatial position. The displacement vector points from the object's starting position to the object's current position in space. If an object is moved from poi






50. A system that no external net force acts upon. Objects within the system may exert forces upon one another - but they cannot receive any impulse from outside forces. Momentum is conserved in isolated systems.