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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 square of the amplitude of a sound wave is called the sound's loudness - or volume.






2. A negatively charged particle that orbits the nucleus of the atom.






3. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.






4. 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






5. Also called a converging lens - a lens that is thicker in the middle than at the edges. Convex lenses refract light through a focal point.






6. 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.






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






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






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






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






12. A vector quantity - equal to the rate of change of the angular velocity vector with time. It is typically given in units of rad/s2.






13. 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.






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






15. 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.






16. 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






17. 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






18. 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.






19. The property by which a changing current in one coil of wire induces an emf in another.






20. The stable position of a system where the net force acting on the object is zero.






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






22. 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 -






23. 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.






24. The number of hydrogen atoms in one gram of hydrogen - equal to . When counting the number of molecules in a gas - it is often convenient to count them in moles.






25. The position - of an object according to a co-ordinate system measured in s of the angle of the object from a certain origin axis. Conventionally - this origin axis is the positive x-axis.






26. 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.






27. Two materials are in thermal equilibrium if they are at the same temperature.






28. 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.






29. A vector quantity defined as the rate of change of the velocity vector with time.






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






31. 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






32. The ray of light that is refracted through a surface into a different medium.






33. The index of refraction n = c/v of a substance characterizes the speed of light in that substance - v. It also characterizes - by way of Snell's Law - the angle at which light refracts in that substance.






34. 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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35. 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

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






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






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






39. The bending of light as it passes from one medium to another. Light refracts toward the normal when going from a less dense medium into a denser medium and away from the normal when going from a denser medium into a less dense medium.






40. A force caused by the roughness of two materials in contact - deformations in the materials - and a molecular attraction between the materials. Frictional forces are always parallel to the plane of contact between two surfaces and opposite the direct






41. 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 -






42. The time it takes a system to pass through one cycle of its repetitive motion. The period - T - is the inverse of the motion's frequency - f = 1/T.






43. 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.






44. A measurement of a body's inertia - or resistance to being accelerated.






45. 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.






46. A nuclear reaction in which a high-energy neutron bombards a heavy - unstable atomic nucleus - causing it to split into two smaller nuclei - and releasing some neutrons and a vast amount of energy at the same time






47. 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






48. 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.






49. Kinematics is the study and description of the motion of objects.






50. The energy stored in a thermodynamic system.