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






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






3. A quantity that possesses a magnitude but not a direction. Mass and length are common examples.






4. The effect of force on rotational motion.






5. 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






6. The force transmitted along a rope or cable.






7. The distance between successive wave crests - or troughs. Wavelength is measured in meters and is related to frequency and wave speed by = v/f.






8. The energy stored in a thermodynamic system.






9. The speed at which a wave crest or trough propagates. Note that this is not the speed at which the actual medium (like the stretched string or the air particles) moves.






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






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

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12. 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.






13. The force involved in beta decay that changes a proton to a neutron and releases an electron and a neutrino.






14. 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.






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






16. The point of a mirror or lens where all light that runs parallel to the principal axis will be focused. Concave mirrors and convex lenses are designed to focus light into the focal point. Convex mirrors and concave lenses focus light away from the fo






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






18. The mass difference between a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the constituent protons and neutrons.






19. The net change - - in a point's angular position - . It is a scalar quantity.






20. The amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. 1 cal = 4.19 J.






21. 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.






22. 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






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






24. 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.






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






26. 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.






27. 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.






28. The disorder of a system.






29. The ray of light that is reflected from a mirror or other reflecting surface.






30. 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.






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






32. 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.






33. 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).






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






35. A particle - identical to an electron. Beta particles are ejected from an atom in the process of beta decay.






36. The longest side of a right triangle - opposite to the right angle.






37. A mirror that is curved such that its center is closer to the viewer than the edges - such as a doorknob. Convex mirrors reflect light away from a focal point.






38. A unit for measuring angles; also called a "rad." 2p rad = 360º.






39. The principle by which the displacements from different waves traveling in the same medium add up. Superposition is the basis for interference.






40. Any vector can be expressed as the sum of two mutually perpendicular component vectors. Usually - but not always - these components are multiples of the basis vectors - and ; that is - vectors along the x-axis and y-axis. We define these two vectors






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






42. The straight line that runs through the focal point and the vertex of a mirror or lens.






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






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






45. 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






46. 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






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






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






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






50. 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.