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






2. The angle between a refracted ray and the line normal to the surface.






3. 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.






4. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






5. 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






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






7. A process that aligns a wave of light to oscillate in one dimension rather than two.






8. A wedge or a slide. The dynamics of objects sliding down inclined planes is a popular topic on SAT II Physics.






9. 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






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






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






13. 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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14. The force necessary to maintain a body in uniform circular motion. This force is always directed radially toward the center of the circle.






15. The energy of a particle moving in space. It is defined in s of a particle's mass - m - and velocity - v - as (1/2)mv2.






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






17. The joule (J) is the unit of work and energy. A joule is 1 N · m or 1 kg · m2/s2.






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

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19. Waves in which the medium moves in the direction perpendicular to the propagation of the wave. Waves on a stretched string - water waves - and electromagnetic waves are all examples of transverse waves.






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






21. A scalar quantity. If an object is moved from point A to point B in space along path AB - the distance that the object has traveled is the length of the path AB. Distance is to be contrasted with displacement - which is simply a measure of the distan






22. 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.






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






24. In the graphical representation of vectors - the tip of the arrow is the pointy end.






25. The force transmitted along a rope or cable.






26. 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






27. A small particle-like bundle of electromagnetic radiation.






28. 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






29. The property of a vector that distinguishes it from a scalar: while scalars have only a magnitude - vectors have both a magnitude and a direction. When graphing vectors in the xy-coordinate space - direction is usually given by the angle measured cou






30. A reference frame in which Newton's First Law is true. Two inertial reference frames move at a constant velocity relative to one another. According to the first postulate of Einstein's theory of special relativity - the laws of physics are the same i






31. 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.






32. The spectrum containing all the different kinds of electromagnetic waves - ranging in wavelength and frequency.






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






34. A device made of two coils - which converts current of one voltage into current of another voltage. In a step-up transformer - the primary coil has fewer turns than the secondary - thus increasing the voltage. In a step-down transformer - the seconda






35. The emf created by the motion of a charge through a magnetic field.






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






37. The experience of being in free fall. If you are in a satellite - elevator - or other free-falling object - then you have a weight of zero Newtons relative to that object.






38. The motion of a body in a circular path with constant speed.






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






40. 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






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






42. With spherical mirrors - the radius of the sphere of which the mirror is a part.






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






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






45. 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






46. Another word for the frequency of a sound wave.






47. 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.






48. For a heat engine - the ratio of work done by the engine to heat intake. Efficiency is never 100%.






49. The angle between a reflected ray and the normal.






50. There are a few versions of this law. One is that heat flows spontaneously from hot to cold - but not in the reverse direction. Another is that there is no such thing as a 100% efficient heat engine. A third states that the entropy - or disorder - of