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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. 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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2. A collision in which the colliding particles stick together.






3. For a reflected light ray - . In other words - a ray of light reflects of a surface in the same plane as the incident ray and the normal - and at an angle to the normal that is equal to the angle between the incident ray and the normal.






4. 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






5. The effect of force on rotational motion.






6. Done when energy is transferred by a force. The work done by a force F in displacing an object by s is W = F · s.






7. The acceleration of a body experiencing uniform circular motion. This acceleration is always directed toward the center of the circle.






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






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






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






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






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






13. 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.






14. 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.






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






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






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






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






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






20. 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






21. 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.






22. 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.






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






24. A measurement of a body's inertia - or resistance to being accelerated.






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






26. 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.






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






28. In an interference or diffraction pattern - the places where there is the least light.






29. 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 -






30. 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






31. 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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32. 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.






33. 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.






34. 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






35. 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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36. A form of radioactive decay where a heavy element ejects a beta particle and a neutrino - becoming a lighter element in the process.






37. Also called a converging lens - a lens that is thicker in the middle than at the edges. Convex lenses refract light through a focal point.






38. Body diagram- Illustrates the forces acting on an object - drawn as vectors originating from the center of the object.






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






40. 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.






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






42. The experience of being in free fall. If you are in a satellite - elevator - or other free-falling object - then you have a weight of zero Newtons relative to that object.






43. 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.






44. For a gas held at a constant temperature - pressure and volume are inversely proportional.

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






46. 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






47. An experiment by Ernest Rutherford that proved for the first time that atoms have nuclei.






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






49. The force between two surfaces moving relative to one another. The frictional force is parallel to the plane of contact between the two objects and in the opposite direction of the sliding object's motion.






50. The force necessary to maintain a body in uniform circular motion. This force is always directed radially toward the center of the circle.