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Test your basic knowledge |
SAT Subject Test: hysics
Start Test
Study First
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
Kinetic friction
Proton
Power
Angular momentum
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.
Wave
Gamma ray
Celsius
Convex lens
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).
Gamma ray
Optics
Convex lens
Center of curvature
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.
Heat
Kepler's Second Law
Rutherford nuclear model
Crest
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.
Weight
Direction
Law of reflection
Standing wave
6. The acceleration of a body experiencing uniform circular motion. This acceleration is always directed toward the center of the circle.
Latent heat of fusion
Loudness
Centripetal acceleration
Real image
7. A scale for measuring temperature - defined such that 0K is the lowest theoretical temperature a material can have. 273K = 0ºC.
Normal force
Principal axis
Kelvin
Mass
8. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.
Work
Gamma ray
Chain reaction
Minima
9. The unit for measuring pressure. One Pascal is equal to one Newton per meter squared - 1 Pa = 1 N/m2.
Kelvin
Pascals
Law of conservation of energy
Newton's First Law
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
Elastic collision
Directly proportional
Focal point
Newton's Second Law
11. A scale for measuring temperature - defined such that water freezes at 0ºC and boils at 100ºC. 0ºC = 273 K.
De Broglie wavelength
Celsius
Longitudinal waves
Beta decay
12. The ray of light that is reflected from a mirror or other reflecting surface.
Reflected ray
Tension force
Medium
Celsius
13. The joule (J) is the unit of work and energy. A joule is 1 N · m or 1 kg · m2/s2.
Translational kinetic energy
Isotope
Joule
Reflected ray
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.
Atom
Conservation of momentum
Reflect
Heat
15. The square of the amplitude of a sound wave is called the sound's loudness - or volume.
Inversely proportional
Reflected ray
Loudness
Frequency
16. A coefficient that tells how much the volume of a solid will change when it is heated or cooled.
Universal gas constant
Antinode
Coefficient of volume expansion
Second Law of Thermodynamics
17. The name of an electron released from the surface of a metal due to the photoelectric effect.
Cross product
Photoelectric effect
Photoelectron
Isolated system
18. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tail of the arrow is the blunt end (the end without a point).
De Broglie wavelength
Newton's Second Law
Tail
Lenz's Law
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 -
Angular displacement
Center of curvature
Compression
Second Law of Thermodynamics
20. The force necessary to maintain a body in uniform circular motion. This force is always directed radially toward the center of the circle.
Third Law of Thermodynamics
Elastic collision
Centripetal force
Force
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.
Restoring force
Nuclear fusion
Snell's Law
Boyle's Law
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 -
Charles's Law
Rarefaction
Heat
Induced current
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.
First Law of Thermodynamics
Axis of rotation
Melting point
Angular velocity
24. The amount of error that's possible in a given measurement.
Orbit
Conservation of Angular Momentum
Period
Margin of error
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.
Pendulum
Orbit
Threshold frequency
Kepler's Third Law
26. A device that breaks incoming light down into spectral rays - so that one can see the exact wavelength constituents of the light.
Refraction
Spectroscope
Transformer
Component
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 -
Electric generator
Translational motion
Angular velocity
Energy
28. The spectrum containing all the different kinds of electromagnetic waves - ranging in wavelength and frequency.
Refracted ray
Right-hand rule
Electromagnetic spectrum
Diffraction grating
29. The gravitational force exerted on a given mass.
Second Law of Thermodynamics
Electromagnetic wave
Weight
Mass number
30. A unit of force: 1 N is equivalent to a 1 kg · m/s2.
Newton's Third Law
Newton
Trough
Potential energy
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.
Frequency
Concave mirror
Significant digits
Minima
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
Minima
Unit vector
Medium
Work
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.
Crest
Component
Kinetic friction
Pulley
34. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.
Magnetic flux
Third Law of Thermodynamics
Heat
Normal
35. The principle stating that for any isolated system - linear momentum is constant with time.
Oscillation
Isolated system
Conservation of momentum
Newton's Second Law
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.
Thermal equilibrium
Ideal gas law
Concave mirror
Pascals
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
De Broglie wavelength
Directly proportional
Sine
Coefficient of static friction
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.
Wavelength
Electromagnetic induction
Alpha particle
Momentum
39. The unit of magnetic flux - equal to one T · m2.
Weber
Vector
Frequency
Work
40. Objects that experience oscillatory or simple harmonic motion when distorted. Their motion is described by Hooke's Law.
Instantaneous velocity
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
Spring
Efficiency
41. The number - N - of neutrons in an atomic nucleus.
Melting point
First Law of Thermodynamics
Neutron number
Entropy
42. A system with many parts in periodic - or repetitive - motion. The oscillations in one part cause vibrations in nearby parts.
Convection
Free
Wave
Translational kinetic energy
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.
Acceleration
Frequency
Wave speed
Spring
44. A push or a pull that causes an object to accelerate.
Refracted ray
Crest
Reflect
Force
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.
Radius of curvature
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
Potential energy
46. The two shorter sides of a right triangle that meet at the right angle.
Kinetic theory of gases
Inversely proportional
Legs
Weber
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.
Absolute zero
Electromagnetic spectrum
Constant of proportionality
Sine
48. A unit vector is a vector with length 1.
Mass defect
Electromagnetic spectrum
Unit vector
Traveling waves
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.
Activity
Coefficient of kinetic friction
Electron
Superposition
50. The line perpendicular to a surface. There is only one normal for any given surface.
Normal
Centripetal force
Tangent
Decay constant