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






2. The effect of force on rotational motion.






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






4. 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






5. 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.






6. The amplification of one wave by another - identical wave of the same sign. Two constructively interfering waves are said to be "in phase."






7. Waves carried by variations in air pressure. The speed of sound waves in air at room temperature and pressure is roughly 343 m/s.






8. A transverse traveling wave created by the oscillations of an electric field and a magnetic field. Electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light - m/s. Examples include microwaves - X rays - and visible light.






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






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






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






12. 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






13. 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.






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






15. The path of each planet around the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus.

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16. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tail of the arrow is the blunt end (the end without a point).






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






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






19. 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






20. 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.






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






22. The units of frequency - defined as inverse-seconds (1 Hz = 1 s-1). "Hertz" can be used interchangeably with "cycles per second."






23. The number of digits that have been accurately measured. When combining several measurements in a formula - the resulting calculation can only have as many significant digits as the measurement that has the smallest number of significant digits.






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






25. The unit of magnetic flux - equal to one T · m2.






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






28. 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.






29. 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.






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






31. The principle by which the displacements from different waves traveling in the same medium add up. Superposition is the basis for interference.






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






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

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35. An object is called radioactive if it undergoes radioactive decay.






36. 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






37. 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.






38. 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






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






40. The amount of heat of a material required to raise the temperature of either one kilogram or one gram of that material by one degree Celsius. Different units may be used depending on whether specific heat is measured in s of grams or kilograms - and






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






42. The amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. 1 cal = 4.19 J.






43. 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






44. The two shorter sides of a right triangle that meet at the right angle.






45. Waves produced by a source that is moving with respect to the observer will seem to have a higher frequency and smaller wavelength if the motion is towards the observer - and a lower frequency and longer wavelength if the motion is away from the obse






46. In reference to oscillation - amplitude is the maximum displacement of the oscillator from its equilibrium position. Amplitude tells how far an oscillator is swinging back and forth. In periodic motion - amplitude is the maximum displacement in each






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






48. 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.






49. A constant - J · s - which is useful in quantum physics. A second constant associated with Planck's constant is .

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50. 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.