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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. The force involved in beta decay that changes a proton to a neutron and releases an electron and a neutrino.






2. The ray of light that is reflected from a mirror or other reflecting surface.






3. The coefficient of static friction - for two materials is the constant of proportionality between the normal force and the maximum force of static friction. It is always a number between zero and one.






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






5. An object that retains its overall shape - meaning that the particles that make up the rigid body stay in the same position relative to one another.






6. 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






7. A neutrally charged particle that - along with protons - constitutes the nucleus of an atom.






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






9. A wave on a string that is tied to a pole at one end will reflect back toward its source - producing a wave that is the mirror-image of the original and which travels in the opposite direction.






10. The movement of a rigid body's center of mass in space.






11. The force transmitted along a rope or cable.






12. 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.






13. 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.






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






15. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tip of the arrow is the pointy end.






16. 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.






17. The net change - - in a point's angular position - . It is a scalar quantity.






18. A positively charged particle that - along with the neutron - occupies the nucleus of the atom.






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






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






21. The disorder of a system.






22. The speed at which a wave crest or trough propagates. Note that this is not the speed at which the actual medium (like the stretched string or the air particles) moves.






23. The energy of the molecules that make up an object. It is related to heat - which is the amount of energy transferred from one object to another object that is a different temperature.






24. The energy of a particle moving in space. It is defined in s of a particle's mass - m - and velocity - v - as (1/2)mv2.






25. 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






26. The emf created by the motion of a charge through a magnetic field.






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






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






30. An object at rest remains at rest - unless acted upon by a net force. An object in motion remains in motion - unless acted upon by a net force.

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31. A system that no external net force acts upon. Objects within the system may exert forces upon one another - but they cannot receive any impulse from outside forces. Momentum is conserved in isolated systems.






32. 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.






33. 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






34. A device that breaks incoming light down into spectral rays - so that one can see the exact wavelength constituents of the light.






35. The energy associated with the configuration of bodies attracted to each other by the gravitational force. It is a measure of the amount of work necessary to get the two bodies from a chosen point of reference to their present position. This point of






36. In the Bohr model of the atom - the state in which an electron has the least energy and orbits closest to the nucleus.






37. 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.






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






39. A small particle-like bundle of electromagnetic radiation.






40. The amount heat necessary to cause a substance to undergo a phase transition.






41. The constant of proportionality in Newton's Law of Gravitation. It reflects the proportion of the gravitational force and - the product of two particles' masses divided by the square of the bodies' separation. N · m2/kg2.






42. A pendulum consists of a bob connected to a rod or rope. At small angles - a pendulum's motion approximates simple harmonic motion as it swings back and forth without friction.






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






44. In radioactive substances - the number of nuclei that decay per second. Activity - A - will be larger in large samples of radioactive material - since there will be more nuclei.






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






46. A collision in which both kinetic energy and momentum are conserved.






47. A rigid body's resistance to being rotated. The moment of inertia for a single particle is MR2 - where M is the mass of the rigid body and R is the distance to the rotation axis. For rigid bodies - calculating the moment of inertia is more complicate






48. The amount of energy that metal must absorb before it can release a photoelectron from the metal.






49. 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






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