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






2. An electromagnetic wave of very high frequency.






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






4. 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.






5. 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.






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






7. 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






8. A collision in which momentum is conserved but kinetic energy is not.






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






10. 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






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






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






13. The center of a mirror or lens.






14. A rigid body's resistance to being rotated. The moment of inertia for a single particle is MR2 - where M is the mass of the rigid body and R is the distance to the rotation axis. For rigid bodies - calculating the moment of inertia is more complicate






15. The movement of a rigid body's center of mass in space.






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

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






18. An equation - PV = nRT - that relates the pressure - volume - temperature - and quantity of an ideal gas. An ideal gas is one that obeys the approximations laid out in the kinetic theory of gases.






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






20. 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






21. When an object is held in circular motion about a massive body - like a planet or a sun - due to the force of gravity - that object is said to be in orbit. Objects in orbit are in perpetual free fall - and so are therefore weightless.






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






23. In radioactive substances - the number of nuclei that decay per second. Activity - A - will be larger in large samples of radioactive material - since there will be more nuclei.






24. 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 -






25. Represented by R = 8.31 J/mol · K - the universal gas constant fits into the ideal gas law so as to relate temperature to the average kinetic energy of gas molecules.






26. 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.






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






28. 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).






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






30. The amount of error that's possible in a given measurement.






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






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






33. A back-and-forth movement about an equilibrium position. Springs - pendulums - and other oscillators experience harmonic motion.






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






35. The energy of a particle rotating around an axis.






36. The distance between the focal point and the vertex of a mirror or lens. For concave mirrors and convex lenses - this number is positive. For convex mirrors and concave lenses - this number is negative.






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






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






39. Heat transfer by molecular collisions.






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






41. The separation of different color light via refraction.






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






43. 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.






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






45. The mass number - A - is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus. It is very close to the weight of that nucleus in atomic mass units.






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






47. The gravitational force exerted on a given mass.






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






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






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