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






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






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






4. 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






5. The bending of light at the corners of objects or as it passes through narrow slits or apertures.






6. 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






7. The center of a mirror or lens.






8. A vector quantity - - that reflects the change of angular displacement with time - and is typically given in units of rad/s. To find the direction of the angular velocity vector - take your right hand and curl your fingers along the particle or body






9. A system with many parts in periodic - or repetitive - motion. The oscillations in one part cause vibrations in nearby parts.






10. The process by which unstable nuclei spontaneously release particles and/or energy so as to come to a more stable arrangement. The most common forms of radioactive decay are alpha decay - beta decay - and gamma decay.






11. Energy associated with an object's position in space - or configuration in relation to other objects. This is a latent form of energy - where the amount of potential energy reflects the amount of energy that potentially could be released as kinetic e






12. States that the current induced in a circuit by a change in magnetic flux is in the direction that will oppose that change in flux. Using the right-hand rule - point your thumb in the opposite direction of the change in magnetic flux. The direction y

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






14. The five equations used to solve problems in kinematics in one dimension with uniform acceleration.






15. A model for the atom developed in 1913 by Niels Bohr. According to this model - the electrons orbiting a nucleus can only orbit at certain particular radii. Excited electrons may jump to a more distant radii and then return to their ground state - em






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






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






18. An object that retains its overall shape - meaning that the particles that make up the rigid body stay in the same position relative to one another.






19. In a right triangle - the tangent of a given angle is the length of the side opposite the angle divided by the length of the side adjacent to the triangle.






20. 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.






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






23. In the Bohr model of the atom - the state in which an electron has the least energy and orbits closest to the nucleus.






24. Heat transfer via electromagnetic waves.






25. The center of an atom - where the protons and neutrons reside. Electrons then orbit this nucleus.






26. 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.






27. 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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28. The unit of magnetic flux - equal to one T · m2.






29. 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.






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






31. A class of elementary particle whose mass is between that of a proton and that of an electron. A common kind of meson is the pion.






32. The points midway between nodes on a standing wave - where the oscillations are largest.






33. Life- The amount of time it takes for one-half of a radioactive sample to decay.






34. 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.






35. 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 -






36. 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






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






38. The force between two surfaces moving relative to one another. The frictional force is parallel to the plane of contact between the two objects and in the opposite direction of the sliding object's motion.






39. A rough approximation of how gases work - that is quite accurate in everyday conditions. According to the kinetic theory - gases are made up of tiny - round molecules that move about in accordance with Newton's Laws - and collide with one another and






40. The study of the properties of visible light - i.e. - the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths between 360 and 780 nm (1 nm = m/s).






41. 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






42. A system that no external net force acts upon. Objects within the system may exert forces upon one another - but they cannot receive any impulse from outside forces. Momentum is conserved in isolated systems.






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






44. For a gas held at constant pressure - temperature and volume are directly proportional.

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45. 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






46. 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.






47. 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.






48. 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






49. 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.






50. 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