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






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






3. A scalar quantity that tells us how fast an object is moving. It measures the rate of change in distance over time. Speed is to be contrasted with velocity in that there is no direction associated with speed.






4. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






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






6. A means of defining the direction of the cross product vector. To define the direction of the vector - position your right hand so that your fingers point in the direction of A - and then curl them around so that they point in the direction of B. Th






7. 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






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






9. The process by which a gas turns directly into a solid because it cannot exist as a liquid at certain pressures.






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






11. 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.






12. Defined as the rate at which work is done - or the rate at which energy is transformed. P is measured in joules per second (J/s) - or watts (W).






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






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






15. The effect of force on rotational motion.






16. 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






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






18. A conserved scalar quantity associated with the state or condition of an object or system of objects. We can roughly define energy as the capacity for an object or system to do work. There are many different types of energy - such as kinetic energy -






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






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






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






22. Heat transfer via the mass movement of molecules.






23. 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






24. 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.






25. Energy associated with the state of motion. The translational kinetic energy of an object is given by the equation .






26. 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.






27. 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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28. 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.






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






30. The center of a mirror or lens.






31. The ratio of the size of the image produced by a mirror or lens to the size of the original object. This number is negative if the image is upside-down.






32. When electromagnetic radiation shines upon a metal - the surface of the metal releases energized electrons. The way in which these electrons are released contradicts classical theories of electromagnetic radiation and supports the quantum view accord






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






34. When an object is held in circular motion about a massive body - like a planet or a sun - due to the force of gravity - that object is said to be in orbit. Objects in orbit are in perpetual free fall - and so are therefore weightless.






35. The number - N - of neutrons in an atomic nucleus.






36. 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






37. Any vector can be expressed as the sum of two mutually perpendicular component vectors. Usually - but not always - these components are multiples of the basis vectors - and ; that is - vectors along the x-axis and y-axis. We define these two vectors






38. 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






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






40. 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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41. A quantity that possesses a magnitude but not a direction. Mass and length are common examples.






42. 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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43. 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






44. The bending of light as it passes from one medium to another. Light refracts toward the normal when going from a less dense medium into a denser medium and away from the normal when going from a denser medium into a less dense medium.






45. A unit of force: 1 N is equivalent to a 1 kg · m/s2.






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






47. 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.






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






49. 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.






50. 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.