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






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






3. 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






4. The amount of energy that metal must absorb before it can release a photoelectron from the metal.






5. The particles and energy released by the fission or fusion of one atom may trigger the fission or fusion of further atoms. In a chain reaction - fission or fusion is rapidly transferred to a large number of atoms - releasing tremendous amounts of ene






6. 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.






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






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






9. 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.






10. 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.






11. An image created by a mirror or lens in such a way that light does not actually come from where the image appears to be.






12. 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.






13. A vector quantity - commonly denoted by the vector s - which reflects an object's change in spatial position. The displacement vector points from the object's starting position to the object's current position in space. If an object is moved from poi






14. An experiment by Ernest Rutherford that proved for the first time that atoms have nuclei.






15. The phenomenon of light bouncing off a surface - such as a mirror.






16. 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).






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






18. 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.






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






20. Atoms of the same element may have different numbers of neutrons and therefore different masses. Atoms of the same element but with different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes of the same element.






21. A form of radioactivity where an excited atom releases a photon of gamma radiation - thereby returning to a lower energy state. The atomic structure itself does not change in the course of gamma radiation.






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






23. 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






24. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.






25. A unit of measurement for energy on atomic levels. 1 eV = J.






26. Heat transfer via the mass movement of molecules.






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






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 velocity at any given instant in time. To be contrasted with average velocity - which is a measure of the change in displacement over a given time interval.






30. For an oscillating spring - the restoring force exerted by the spring is directly proportional to the displacement. That is - the more the spring is displaced - the stronger the force that will pull toward the equilibrium position. This law is expres


31. A number - Z - associated with the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. Every element can be defined in s of its atomic number - since every atom of a given element has the same number of protons.






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






33. 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.






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






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






36. The points of maximum displacement along a wave. In traveling waves - the crests move in the direction of propagation of the wave. The crests of standing waves - also called anti-nodes - remain in one place.






37. A wavelength - given by = h/mv - which is associated with matter. Louis de Broglie proposed the idea that matter could be treated as waves in 1923 and applied this theory successfully to small particles like electrons.






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






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






40. 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






41. The building blocks of all matter - quarks are the constituent parts of protons - neutrons - and mesons.






42. 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 -






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






44. The force between two surfaces that are not moving relative to one another. The force of static friction is parallel to the plane of contact between the two objects and resists the force pushing or pulling on the object.






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






46. The coefficient of static friction - for two materials is the constant of proportionality between the normal force and the maximum force of static friction. It is always a number between zero and one.






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






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






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






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