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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 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.






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






3. 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






4. 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






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






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






7. The motion of a body in a circular path with constant speed.






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






9. 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.






10. 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 -






11. 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






12. The points on a standing wave where total destructive interference causes the medium to remain fixed at its equilibrium position.






13. Also called a diverging lens - a lens that is thinner in the middle than at the edges. Concave lenses refract light away from a focal point.






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






15. 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






16. The dot product of the area and the magnetic field passing through it. Graphically - it is a measure of the number and length of magnetic field lines passing through that area. It is measured in Webers (Wb).






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






18. The center of an atom - where the protons and neutrons reside. Electrons then orbit this nucleus.






19. In an interference or diffraction pattern - the places where there is the most light.






20. If the net torque acting on a rigid body is zero - then the angular momentum of the body is constant or conserved.






21. The gravitational force exerted on a given mass.






22. 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.






23. 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






24. 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.






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






26. 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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27. 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






28. A constant - - not to be confused with wavelength - that defines the speed at which a radioactive element undergoes decay. The greater is - the faster the element decays.






29. 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






30. The tendency of an object to remain at a constant velocity - or its resistance to being accelerated. Newton's First Law is alternatively called the Law of Inertia because it describes this tendency.






31. 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






32. Heat transfer by molecular collisions.






33. A scalar quantity. If an object is moved from point A to point B in space along path AB - the distance that the object has traveled is the length of the path AB. Distance is to be contrasted with displacement - which is simply a measure of the distan






34. The building blocks of all matter - atoms are made up of a nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons - and a number of electrons that orbit the nucleus. An electrically neutral atom has as many protons as it has electrons.






35. The force that causes simple harmonic motion. The restoring force is always directed toward an object's equilibrium position.






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






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






38. The temperature at which a material will change phase from liquid to gas or gas to liquid.






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






40. The stable position of a system where the net force acting on the object is zero.






41. The distance between successive wave crests - or troughs. Wavelength is measured in meters and is related to frequency and wave speed by = v/f.






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






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






44. A collision in which momentum is conserved but kinetic energy is not.






45. 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.






46. 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.






47. A wedge or a slide. The dynamics of objects sliding down inclined planes is a popular topic on SAT II Physics.






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






49. An almost massless particle of neutral charge that is released along with a beta particle in beta decay.






50. The points midway between nodes on a standing wave - where the oscillations are largest.