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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 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.






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






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






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






5. The process by which a solid turns directly into gas - because it cannot exist as a liquid at a certain pressure.






6. A back-and-forth movement about an equilibrium position. Springs - pendulums - and other oscillators experience harmonic motion.






7. When dealing with reflection or refraction - the incident ray is the ray of light before it strikes the reflecting or refracting surface.






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






9. 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.






10. An image created by a mirror or lens in such a way that light does actually come from where the image appears to be. If you place a screen in front of a real image - the image will be projected onto the screen.






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






12. 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.






13. For two given media - the smallest angle of incidence at which total internal reflection occurs.






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






15. The particles and energy released by the fission or fusion of one atom may trigger the fission or fusion of further atoms. In a chain reaction - fission or fusion is rapidly transferred to a large number of atoms - releasing tremendous amounts of ene






16. The series of standing waves supported by a string with both ends tied down. The first member of the series - called the fundamental - has two nodes at the ends and one anti-node in the middle. The higher harmonics are generated by placing an integra






17. Heat transfer via the mass movement of molecules.






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






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






20. States that the current induced in a circuit by a change in magnetic flux is in the direction that will oppose that change in flux. Using the right-hand rule - point your thumb in the opposite direction of the change in magnetic flux. The direction y

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21. A vector quantity - - that reflects the change of angular displacement with time - and is typically given in units of rad/s. To find the direction of the angular velocity vector - take your right hand and curl your fingers along the particle or body






22. For an oscillating spring - the restoring force exerted by the spring is directly proportional to the displacement. That is - the more the spring is displaced - the stronger the force that will pull toward the equilibrium position. This law is expres

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23. The model of the atom according to which negatively charged electrons orbit a positively charged nucleus. This model was developed by Ernest Rutherford in light of the results from his gold foil experiment.






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






25. When two waves of slightly different frequencies interfere with one another - they produce a "beating" interference pattern that alternates between constructive (in-phase) and destructive (out-of-phase). In the case of sound waves - this sort of inte






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






27. 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.






28. 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






29. A process that aligns a wave of light to oscillate in one dimension rather than two.






30. A wave with wave crests that propagate down the length of the medium - in contrast to stationary standing waves. The velocity at which a crest propagates is called the wave speed.






31. Two materials are in thermal equilibrium if they are at the same temperature.






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






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






34. The mass difference between a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the constituent protons and neutrons.






35. 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.






36. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.






37. 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.






38. 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






39. A frequency - f - defined as the number of revolutions a rigid body makes in a given time interval. It is a scalar quantity commonly denoted in units of Hertz (Hz) or s-1.






40. When objects collide - each object feels a force for a short amount of time. This force imparts an impulse - or changes the momentum of each of the colliding objects. The momentum of a system is conserved in all kinds of collisions. Kinetic energy is






41. 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.






42. 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






43. The phenomenon of light bouncing off a surface - such as a mirror.






44. 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.






45. 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






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






47. 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 -






48. The energy of a particle rotating around an axis.






49. The building blocks of all matter - quarks are the constituent parts of protons - neutrons - and mesons.






50. 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.






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