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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. A vector quantity - L - that is the rotational analogue of linear momentum. For a single particle - the angular momentum is the cross product of the particle's displacement from the axis of rotation and the particle's linear momentum - . For a rigid






2. Also called a converging lens - a lens that is thicker in the middle than at the edges. Convex lenses refract light through a focal point.






3. 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).






4. 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.






5. For a reflected light ray - . In other words - a ray of light reflects of a surface in the same plane as the incident ray and the normal - and at an angle to the normal that is equal to the angle between the incident ray and the normal.






6. The acceleration of a body experiencing uniform circular motion. This acceleration is always directed toward the center of the circle.






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






8. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.






9. The unit for measuring pressure. One Pascal is equal to one Newton per meter squared - 1 Pa = 1 N/m2.






10. The point of a mirror or lens where all light that runs parallel to the principal axis will be focused. Concave mirrors and convex lenses are designed to focus light into the focal point. Convex mirrors and concave lenses focus light away from the fo






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






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






13. The joule (J) is the unit of work and energy. A joule is 1 N · m or 1 kg · m2/s2.






14. A transfer of thermal energy. We don't speak about systems "having" heat - but about their "transferring" heat - much in the way that dynamical systems don't "have" work - but rather "do" work.






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






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






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






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






19. 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 -






20. The force necessary to maintain a body in uniform circular motion. This force is always directed radially toward the center of the circle.






21. 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.






22. 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 -






23. Essentially a restatement of energy conservation - it states that the change in the internal energy of a system is equal to the heat added plus the work done on the system.






24. The amount of error that's possible in a given measurement.






25. 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.






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






27. A conserved scalar quantity associated with the state or condition of an object or system of objects. We can roughly define energy as the capacity for an object or system to do work. There are many different types of energy - such as kinetic energy -






28. The spectrum containing all the different kinds of electromagnetic waves - ranging in wavelength and frequency.






29. The gravitational force exerted on a given mass.






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






31. A mirror that is curved such that its center is farther from the viewer than the edges - such as the front of a spoon. Concave mirrors reflect light through a focal point.






32. The substance that is displaced as a wave propagates through it. Air is the medium for sound waves - the string is the medium of transverse waves on a string - and water is the medium for ocean waves. Note that even if the waves in a given medium tra






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. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.






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






36. 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.






37. 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






38. 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.






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






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






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






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






43. The number of cycles executed by a system in one second. Frequency is the inverse of period - f = 1/T. Frequency is measured in hertz - Hz.






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






45. 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.






46. The two shorter sides of a right triangle that meet at the right angle.






47. The lowest theoretical temperature a material can have - where the molecules that make up the material have no kinetic energy. Absolute zero is reached at 0 K or -273º C.






48. A unit vector is a vector with length 1.






49. The coefficient of kinetic friction - - for two materials is the constant of proportionality between the normal force and the force of kinetic friction. It is always a number between zero and one.






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