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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. 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.






2. 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 .






3. 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.






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






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






6. A vector of magnitude 1 along one of the coordinate axes. Generally - we take the basis vectors to be and - the vectors of length 1 along the x- and y-axes - respectively.






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






8. 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.






9. 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






10. With spherical mirrors - the center of the sphere of which the mirror is a part. All of the normals pass through it.






11. 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






12. 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






13. 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.






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






15. 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






16. The cancellation of one wave by another wave that is exactly out of phase with the first. Despite the dramatic name of this phenomenon - nothing is "destroyed" by this interference—the two waves emerge intact once they have passed each other.






17. 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.






18. 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.






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

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






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






22. 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.






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






24. Heat transfer via the mass movement of molecules.






25. 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.






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






27. 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.






28. 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






29. The effect of force on rotational motion.






30. 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






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






32. The constant of proportionality in Newton's Law of Gravitation. It reflects the proportion of the gravitational force and - the product of two particles' masses divided by the square of the bodies' separation. N · m2/kg2.






33. The amount of heat necessary to transform a solid at a given temperature into a liquid of the same temperature - or the amount of heat needed to be removed from a liquid of a given temperature to transform it into a solid of the same temperature.






34. A measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a system. Temperature is related to heat by the specific heat of a given substance.






35. 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.






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






38. The points on a standing wave where total destructive interference causes the medium to remain fixed at its equilibrium position.






39. The disorder of a system.






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






41. A nuclear reaction that takes place only at very high temperatures. Two light atoms - often hydrogen - fuse together to form a larger single atom - releasing a vast amount of energy in the process.






42. If a line is drawn from the sun to the planet - then the area swept out by this line in a given time interval is constant.

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






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






46. When a light ray strikes a surface - the angle of incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the normal.






47. 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.






48. A law - || = - which states that the induced emf is the change in magnetic flux in a certain time.

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






50. The process by which a solid turns directly into gas - because it cannot exist as a liquid at a certain pressure.