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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 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.






2. A negatively charged particle that orbits the nucleus of the atom.






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






4. A particle - which consists of two protons and two neutrons. It is identical to the nucleus of a helium atom and is ejected by heavy particles undergoing alpha decay.






5. The reaction force of the ground - a table - etc. - when an object is placed upon it. The normal force is a direct consequence of Newton's Third Law: when an object is placed on the ground - the ground pushes back with the same force that it is pushe






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






7. 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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8. A rough approximation of how gases work - that is quite accurate in everyday conditions. According to the kinetic theory - gases are made up of tiny - round molecules that move about in accordance with Newton's Laws - and collide with one another and






9. When a solid - liquid - or gas changes into another phase of matter.






10. The angle between a refracted ray and the line normal to the surface.






11. 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.






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






13. A collision in which the colliding particles stick together.






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






15. There are a few versions of this law. One is that heat flows spontaneously from hot to cold - but not in the reverse direction. Another is that there is no such thing as a 100% efficient heat engine. A third states that the entropy - or disorder - of






16. A principle derived by Werner Heisenberg in 1927 that tells us that we can never know both the position and the momentum of a particle at any given time.






17. A class of elementary particle whose mass is between that of a proton and that of an electron. A common kind of meson is the pion.






18. 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.






19. Waves in which the medium moves in the direction perpendicular to the propagation of the wave. Waves on a stretched string - water waves - and electromagnetic waves are all examples of transverse waves.






20. 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.






21. The experience of being in free fall. If you are in a satellite - elevator - or other free-falling object - then you have a weight of zero Newtons relative to that object.






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






23. A form of radioactive decay where a heavy element emits an alpha particle and some energy - thus transforming into a lighter - more stable - element.






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






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






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






27. 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






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






29. The position - of an object according to a co-ordinate system measured in s of the angle of the object from a certain origin axis. Conventionally - this origin axis is the positive x-axis.






30. 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.






31. The process by which a gas turns directly into a solid because it cannot exist as a liquid at certain pressures.






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






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

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34. A quantity that possesses a magnitude but not a direction. Mass and length are common examples.






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






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






37. The property by which a changing current in one coil of wire induces an emf in another.






38. The application of kinematics to understand why objects move the way they do. More precisely - dynamics is the study of how forces cause motion.






39. The distance between the focal point and the vertex of a mirror or lens. For concave mirrors and convex lenses - this number is positive. For convex mirrors and concave lenses - this number is negative.






40. The force that binds protons and neutrons together in the atomic nucleus.






41. 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.






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






43. An image created by a mirror or lens in such a way that light does not actually come from where the image appears to be.






44. A measurement of a body's inertia - or resistance to being accelerated.






45. 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.






46. A constant in the numerator of a formula.






47. 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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48. Two oscillators that have the same frequency and amplitude - but reach their maximum displacements at different times - are said to have different phases. Similarly - two waves are in phase if their crests and troughs line up exactly - and they are o






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






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