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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. 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.






2. The current induced in a circuit by a change in magnetic flux.






3. The state of a nonrotating object upon whom the net torque acting is zero.






4. 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.






5. The application of kinematics to understand why objects move the way they do. More precisely - dynamics is the study of how forces cause motion.






6. 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.






7. 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






8. A vector quantity defined as the rate of change of the displacement vector with time. It is to be contrasted with speed - which is a scalar quantity for which no direction is specified.






9. A wave that interferes with its own reflection so as to produce oscillations which stand still - rather than traveling down the length of the medium. Standing waves on a string with both ends tied down make up the harmonic series.






10. 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).






11. The point of a mirror or lens where all light that runs parallel to the principal axis will be focused. Concave mirrors and convex lenses are designed to focus light into the focal point. Convex mirrors and concave lenses focus light away from the fo






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






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

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14. 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 -






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






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






17. 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






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






19. 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.






20. 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.






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






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






23. Energy cannot be made or destroyed; energy can only be changed from one place to another or from one form to another.






24. In oscillation - a cycle occurs when an object undergoing oscillatory motion completes a "round-trip." For instance - a pendulum bob released at angle has completed one cycle when it swings to and then back to again. In period motion - a cycle is the






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






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






27. 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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28. A property of a metal - the minimum frequency of electromagnetic radiation that is necessary to release photoelectrons from that metal.






29. The center of a mirror or lens.






30. 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






31. Relates the angle of incidence to the angle of refraction: .

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32. 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






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






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






35. A pulley is a simple machine that consists of a rope that slides around a disk or block.






36. A form of vector multiplication - where two vectors are multiplied to produce a scalar. The dot product of two vectors - A and B - is expressed by the equation A · B = AB cos .






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






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






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






40. A device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy by rotating a coil in a magnetic field; sometimes called a "dynamo."






41. 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.






42. Heat transfer by molecular collisions.






43. 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






44. 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 -






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






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

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






48. 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 -






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






50. 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