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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 of gravity - F - between two particles of mass and - separated by a distance r - has a magnitude of - where G is the gravitational constant. The force is directed along the line joining the two particles.

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2. An area of high air pressure that acts as the wave crest for sound waves. The spacing between successive compressions is the wavelength of sound - and the number of successive areas of compression that arrive at the ear per second is the frequency -






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






4. A form of radioactivity where an excited atom releases a photon of gamma radiation - thereby returning to a lower energy state. The atomic structure itself does not change in the course of gamma radiation.






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






6. 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.






7. A vector quantity defined as the product of the force acting on a body multiplied by the time interval over which the force is exerted.






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






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






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






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






12. 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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13. A coefficient that tells how much the volume of a solid will change when it is heated or cooled.






14. 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






15. 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.






16. Given the period - T - and semimajor axis - a - of a planet's orbit - the ratio is the same for every planet.

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17. 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.






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






19. A property common to both vectors and scalars. In the graphical representation of a vector - the vector's magnitude is equal to the length of the arrow.






20. The temperature at which a material will change phase from solid to liquid or liquid to solid.






21. The process by which unstable nuclei spontaneously release particles and/or energy so as to come to a more stable arrangement. The most common forms of radioactive decay are alpha decay - beta decay - and gamma decay.






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






23. 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.






24. 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.






25. 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






26. 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.






27. 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.






28. The bending of light at the corners of objects or as it passes through narrow slits or apertures.






29. The square of the amplitude of a sound wave is called the sound's loudness - or volume.






30. A unit for measuring angles; also called a "rad." 2p rad = 360º.






31. 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.






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






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






34. Objects that experience oscillatory or simple harmonic motion when distorted. Their motion is described by Hooke's Law.






35. The time it takes a system to pass through one cycle of its repetitive motion. The period - T - is the inverse of the motion's frequency - f = 1/T.






36. A force caused by the roughness of two materials in contact - deformations in the materials - and a molecular attraction between the materials. Frictional forces are always parallel to the plane of contact between two surfaces and opposite the direct






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






38. The number of cycles executed by a system in one second. Frequency is the inverse of period - f = 1/T. Frequency is measured in hertz - Hz.






39. 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 -






40. A mirror that is curved such that its center is farther from the viewer than the edges - such as the front of a spoon. Concave mirrors reflect light through a focal point.






41. 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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42. 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.






43. 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.






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






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






46. 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






47. Two quantities are directly proportional if an increase in one results in a proportional increase in the other - and a decrease in one results in a proportional decrease in the other. In a formula defining a certain quantity - those quantities to whi






48. 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






49. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.






50. For a heat engine - the ratio of work done by the engine to heat intake. Efficiency is never 100%.