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






2. 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.






3. A push or a pull that causes an object to accelerate.






4. The separation of different color light via refraction.






5. A principle derived by Werner Heisenberg in 1927 that tells us that we can never know both the position and the momentum of a particle at any given time.






6. A means of defining the direction of the cross product vector. To define the direction of the vector - position your right hand so that your fingers point in the direction of A - and then curl them around so that they point in the direction of B. Th






7. 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






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






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






10. 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).






11. The center of a mirror or lens.






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






13. 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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14. A vector of magnitude 1 along one of the coordinate axes. Generally - we take the basis vectors to be and - the vectors of length 1 along the x- and y-axes - respectively.






15. 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






16. 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






17. The substance that is displaced as a wave propagates through it. Air is the medium for sound waves - the string is the medium of transverse waves on a string - and water is the medium for ocean waves. Note that even if the waves in a given medium tra






18. The line perpendicular to a surface. There is only one normal for any given surface.






19. 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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20. A collision in which the colliding particles stick together.






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






22. A vector quantity - L - that is the rotational analogue of linear momentum. For a single particle - the angular momentum is the cross product of the particle's displacement from the axis of rotation and the particle's linear momentum - . For a rigid






23. 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.






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






25. The path of each planet around the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus.

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






28. An object that moves about a stable equilibrium point and experiences a restoring force that is directly proportional to the oscillator's displacement.






29. 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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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 collision in which momentum is conserved but kinetic energy is not.






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






33. 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






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






35. 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.






36. The amount of heat necessary to transform a solid at a given temperature into a liquid of the same temperature - or the amount of heat needed to be removed from a liquid of a given temperature to transform it into a solid of the same temperature.






37. A unit of force: 1 N is equivalent to a 1 kg · m/s2.






38. 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.






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






40. A number - Z - associated with the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. Every element can be defined in s of its atomic number - since every atom of a given element has the same number of protons.






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






43. Heat transfer by molecular collisions.






44. 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.






45. 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.






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






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






48. A transverse traveling wave created by the oscillations of an electric field and a magnetic field. Electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light - m/s. Examples include microwaves - X rays - and visible light.






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






50. The series of standing waves supported by a string with both ends tied down. The first member of the series - called the fundamental - has two nodes at the ends and one anti-node in the middle. The higher harmonics are generated by placing an integra