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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 - equal to the rate of change of the angular velocity vector with time. It is typically given in units of rad/s2.
Specific heat
Calorie
Angular acceleration
Law of conservation of energy
2. Defined as the rate at which work is done - or the rate at which energy is transformed. P is measured in joules per second (J/s) - or watts (W).
Pulley
Angular position
Power
Magnitude
3. A logorithmic unit for measuring the volume of sound - which is the square of the amplitude of sound waves.
Joule
Work
Pitch
Decibel
4. The energy stored in a thermodynamic system.
Internal energy
Uncertainty principle
Weak nuclear force
Lenz's Law
5. In reference to oscillation - amplitude is the maximum displacement of the oscillator from its equilibrium position. Amplitude tells how far an oscillator is swinging back and forth. In periodic motion - amplitude is the maximum displacement in each
Amplitude
Inertia
Rotational kinetic energy
Newton's Third Law
6. 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.
Latent heat of transformation
System
Lenz's Law
Heat
7. 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.
Concave lens
Destructive interference
Proton
Convex mirror
8. 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
Optics
Displacement
Real image
Constant of proportionality
9. 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.
Pendulum
Antinode
De Broglie wavelength
Angular velocity
10. A unit vector is a vector with length 1.
Unit vector
Transformer
Vector
Orbit
11. A scale for measuring temperature - defined such that 0K is the lowest theoretical temperature a material can have. 273K = 0ºC.
Moment of inertia
Sublimation
Reflect
Kelvin
12. 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.
Kinematics
Absolute zero
Angle of incidence
Michelson-Morley experiment
13. When electromagnetic radiation shines upon a metal - the surface of the metal releases energized electrons. The way in which these electrons are released contradicts classical theories of electromagnetic radiation and supports the quantum view accord
Acceleration
Angle of reflection
Photoelectric effect
Wavelength
14. A form of vector multiplication - where two vectors are multiplied to produce a third vector. The cross product of two vectors - A and B - separated by an angle - - is - where is a unit vector perpendicular to both A and B. To deine which direction
Cross product
Mechanical energy
Neutron number
Concave mirror
15. 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
Potential energy
Focal length
Kinetic theory of gases
Force
16. 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.
Virtual image
Boiling point
Conservation of Angular Momentum
Kinetic theory of gases
17. A constant in the numerator of a formula.
Entropy
Cycle
First Law of Thermodynamics
Constant of proportionality
18. Kinematics is the study and description of the motion of objects.
Minima
Nuclear fission
Kinematics
Dispersion
19. A device that breaks incoming light down into spectral rays - so that one can see the exact wavelength constituents of the light.
Component
Spring constant
Spectroscope
Constant of proportionality
20. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.
Inertial reference frame
Tip
Equilibrium
Radiation
21. A measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a system. Temperature is related to heat by the specific heat of a given substance.
Photon
Directly proportional
Michelson-Morley experiment
Temperature
22. The number of hydrogen atoms in one gram of hydrogen - equal to . When counting the number of molecules in a gas - it is often convenient to count them in moles.
Angular period
Angular displacement
Center of curvature
Mole
23. The number of digits that have been accurately measured. When combining several measurements in a formula - the resulting calculation can only have as many significant digits as the measurement that has the smallest number of significant digits.
Significant digits
First Law of Thermodynamics
Static friction
Pitch
24. 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
Transformer
Compression
Focal length
Vector
25. 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.
Electromagnetic wave
Radioactive decay
Crest
Inversely proportional
26. Waves produced by a source that is moving with respect to the observer will seem to have a higher frequency and smaller wavelength if the motion is towards the observer - and a lower frequency and longer wavelength if the motion is away from the obse
Spring constant
Pitch
Elastic collision
Doppler shift
27. A particle - identical to an electron. Beta particles are ejected from an atom in the process of beta decay.
Equilibrium position
Rigid body
Simple harmonic oscillator
Beta particle
28. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.
Gamma ray
Universal gas constant
Latent heat of transformation
Concave mirror
29. A body or set of bodies that we choose to analyze as a group.
Joule
System
Collision
Ideal gas law
30. When a solid - liquid - or gas changes into another phase of matter.
Conduction
Induced current
Phase change
Focal point
31. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tip of the arrow is the pointy end.
Constructive interference
Angle of refraction
Tip
Doppler shift
32. The property by which a changing current in one coil of wire induces an emf in another.
Static friction
Mutual Induction
Decibel
Legs
33. 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.
Kepler's First Law
Coefficient of linear expansion
Period
Latent heat of fusion
34. Any vector can be expressed as the sum of two mutually perpendicular component vectors. Usually - but not always - these components are multiples of the basis vectors - and ; that is - vectors along the x-axis and y-axis. We define these two vectors
Uncertainty principle
Component
Convex lens
Half
35. The force between two surfaces that are not moving relative to one another. The force of static friction is parallel to the plane of contact between the two objects and resists the force pushing or pulling on the object.
Static friction
Convex mirror
Longitudinal waves
Pendulum
36. When dealing with reflection or refraction - the incident ray is the ray of light before it strikes the reflecting or refracting surface.
Hooke's Law
Incident ray
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
Elastic collision
37. The net change - - in a point's angular position - . It is a scalar quantity.
Angular displacement
Speed
Law of conservation of energy
Photon
38. Occurs when every point in the rigid body moves in a circular path around a line called the axis of rotation.
Rotational motion
Margin of error
Completely inelastic collision
Antinode
39. 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
Spectroscope
Gold foil experiment
Inversely proportional
Tangent
40. The amount of heat of a material required to raise the temperature of either one kilogram or one gram of that material by one degree Celsius. Different units may be used depending on whether specific heat is measured in s of grams or kilograms - and
Specific heat
Velocity
Electronvolt
Directly proportional
41. The amplification of one wave by another - identical wave of the same sign. Two constructively interfering waves are said to be "in phase."
Rotational motion
Constructive interference
Cross product
Dispersion
42. The force that causes simple harmonic motion. The restoring force is always directed toward an object's equilibrium position.
Rotational motion
Decay constant
Restoring force
Period
43. A small particle-like bundle of electromagnetic radiation.
Inclined plane
Longitudinal waves
Photon
Magnetic flux
44. 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.
Alpha particle
Kinematic equations
Motional emf
Polarization
45. 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
Gamma decay
Rarefaction
Crest
Phase
46. The mass difference between a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the constituent protons and neutrons.
Unit vector
Reflect
Mass defect
Trough
47. A form of radioactive decay where a heavy element ejects a beta particle and a neutrino - becoming a lighter element in the process.
Magnification
Beta decay
Tension force
Medium
48. The mass number - A - is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus. It is very close to the weight of that nucleus in atomic mass units.
Phase change
Mass number
Electric generator
Weak nuclear force
49. 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 -
Spring
Energy
Weber
Magnification
50. An experiment by Ernest Rutherford that proved for the first time that atoms have nuclei.
Pendulum
Gold foil experiment
Amplitude
Principal axis