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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 phenomenon by which light traveling from a high n to a low n material will reflect from the optical interface if the incident angle is greater than the critical angle.






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






3. The stable position of a system where the net force acting on the object is zero.






4. The line that every particle in the rotating rigid body circles about.






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






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






7. 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






8. A rough approximation of how gases work - that is quite accurate in everyday conditions. According to the kinetic theory - gases are made up of tiny - round molecules that move about in accordance with Newton's Laws - and collide with one another and






9. 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.






10. 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.






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






12. 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.






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






14. A machine that operates by taking heat from a hot place - doing some work with that heat - and then exhausting the rest of the heat into a cool place. The internal combustion engine of a car is an example of a heat engine.






15. 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






16. The position - of an object according to a co-ordinate system measured in s of the angle of the object from a certain origin axis. Conventionally - this origin axis is the positive x-axis.






17. The gravitational force exerted on a given mass.






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






19. 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.






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






21. The time - T - required for a rigid body to complete one revolution.






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






23. Waves that oscillate in the same direction as the propagation of the wave. Sound is carried by longitudinal waves - since the air molecules move back and forth in the same direction the sound travels.






24. The dot product of the area and the magnetic field passing through it. Graphically - it is a measure of the number and length of magnetic field lines passing through that area. It is measured in Webers (Wb).






25. 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.






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

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






28. A collision in which momentum is conserved but kinetic energy is not.






29. A vector quantity - L - that is the rotational analogue of linear momentum. For a single particle - the angular momentum is the cross product of the particle's displacement from the axis of rotation and the particle's linear momentum - . For a rigid






30. 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.






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






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






33. A vector quantity - or vector - is an object possessing - and fully described by - a magnitude and a direction. Graphically a vector is depicted as an arrow with its magnitude given by the length of the arrow and its direction given by where the arro






34. The separation of different color light via refraction.






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






36. The points of maximum negative displacement along a wave. They are the opposite of wave crests.






37. A push or a pull that causes an object to accelerate.






38. The amount of heat necessary for a material undergoing sublimation to make a phase change from gas to solid or solid to gas - without a change in temperature.






39. 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.






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






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






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






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

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






46. A coefficient that tells how much a material will expand or contract lengthwise when it is heated or cooled.






47. Kinematics is the study and description of the motion of objects.






48. The effect of force on rotational motion.






49. The sum of a system's potential and kinetic energy. In many systems - including projectiles - pulleys - pendulums - and motion on frictionless surfaces - mechanical energy is conserved. One important type of problem in which mechanical energy is not






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