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Test your basic knowledge |
SAT Subject Test: hysics
Start Test
Study First
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 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
Fundamental
Radioactive decay
Conservation of Angular Momentum
Gravitational Potential Energy
2. The time - T - required for a rigid body to complete one revolution.
Kepler's Third Law
Angular period
Centripetal force
Angular acceleration
3. 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
Radioactivity
Basis vector
Entropy
Vector
4. 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
Hypotenuse
Electronvolt
Cross product
Free
5. 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.
Refracted ray
Mass number
Calorie
Pendulum
6. The spectrum containing all the different kinds of electromagnetic waves - ranging in wavelength and frequency.
Magnification
Polarization
Electromagnetic spectrum
Newton's First Law
7. 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.
Directly proportional
Scalar
Cosine
Heat engine
8. With spherical mirrors - the center of the sphere of which the mirror is a part. All of the normals pass through it.
Center of curvature
Vector
Quark
Incident ray
9. 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.
Standing wave
Fundamental
Alpha particle
Activity
10. 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
Hypotenuse
Angular acceleration
Component
Entropy
11. An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.
Universal gas constant
Collision
Uncertainty principle
Third Law of Thermodynamics
12. The ray of light that is reflected from a mirror or other reflecting surface.
Reflected ray
Newton's Third Law
Translational kinetic energy
Thermal equilibrium
13. A logorithmic unit for measuring the volume of sound - which is the square of the amplitude of sound waves.
Refracted ray
Index of refraction
Decibel
Doppler shift
14. A vector quantity defined as the product of the force acting on a body multiplied by the time interval over which the force is exerted.
Collision
Sublimation
Tail
Impulse
15. 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.
Latent heat of transformation
Atom
Tangent
Orbit
16. Another word for the frequency of a sound wave.
Kinetic theory of gases
Pitch
Tip
Pressure
17. The emf created by the motion of a charge through a magnetic field.
Refraction
Radian
Angular momentum
Motional emf
18. The principle by which the displacements from different waves traveling in the same medium add up. Superposition is the basis for interference.
Photoelectric effect
Superposition
Ground state
Radiation
19. The distance between successive wave crests - or troughs. Wavelength is measured in meters and is related to frequency and wave speed by = v/f.
Convex lens
Uniform circular motion
Wavelength
Induced current
20. The angle between a refracted ray and the line normal to the surface.
Ideal gas law
Newton's Second Law
Unit vector
Angle of refraction
21. The force between two surfaces that are not moving relative to one another. The force of static friction is parallel to the plane of contact between the two objects and resists the force pushing or pulling on the object.
Static friction
Mass number
Potential energy
Scalar
22. 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.
Cross product
Universal gas constant
Efficiency
Kepler's First Law
23. A positively charged particle that - along with the neutron - occupies the nucleus of the atom.
Kinetic theory of gases
Heat
Proton
Alpha decay
24. 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
Hertz (Hz)
Nucleus
Newton's First Law
Center of mass
25. 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
Spring constant
Amplitude
Internal energy
Mass number
26. 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
Chain reaction
Spring constant
Joule
Law of reflection
27. 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
Longitudinal waves
Center of mass
Harmonic series
Conduction
28. The amount heat necessary to cause a substance to undergo a phase transition.
Electromagnetic induction
Latent heat of transformation
Acceleration
Refraction
29. 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.
Neutron number
Speed
Kepler's Third Law
Ideal gas law
30. A process that aligns a wave of light to oscillate in one dimension rather than two.
Principal axis
Polarization
Kelvin
Doppler shift
31. If the net torque acting on a rigid body is zero - then the angular momentum of the body is constant or conserved.
Conservation of Angular Momentum
Wavelength
Pressure
Angle of refraction
32. 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
Radian
Charles's Law
Cycle
Energy
33. 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.
Force
Equilibrium
Phase change
Gravitational constant
34. An image created by a mirror or lens in such a way that light does not actually come from where the image appears to be.
Longitudinal waves
Threshold frequency
Focal point
Virtual image
35. For a gas held at a constant temperature - pressure and volume are inversely proportional.
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.
Wave
Mass defect
De Broglie wavelength
Latent heat of fusion
37. The name of an electron released from the surface of a metal due to the photoelectric effect.
Trough
Entropy
Pascals
Photoelectron
38. When a solid - liquid - or gas changes into another phase of matter.
Equilibrium position
Chain reaction
Phase change
Translational kinetic energy
39. 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.
Spring
Oscillation
Cycle
Orbit
40. For a gas held at constant pressure - temperature and volume are directly proportional.
41. A scale for measuring temperature - defined such that 0K is the lowest theoretical temperature a material can have. 273K = 0ºC.
Superposition
Direction
Basis vector
Kelvin
42. A wave on a string that is tied to a pole at one end will reflect back toward its source - producing a wave that is the mirror-image of the original and which travels in the opposite direction.
Direction
Newton's Second Law
Reflect
Dot product
43. A constant in the numerator of a formula.
Translational kinetic energy
Minima
Constant of proportionality
Free
44. A unit of measurement for energy on atomic levels. 1 eV = J.
Electronvolt
Thermal energy
Convection
Strong nuclear force
45. The force necessary to maintain a body in uniform circular motion. This force is always directed radially toward the center of the circle.
Coefficient of static friction
Gamma ray
Centripetal force
Cross product
46. The straight line that runs through the focal point and the vertex of a mirror or lens.
Dot product
Trough
Principal axis
Reflect
47. 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
Center of curvature
Displacement
Electric generator
Conduction
48. In a right triangle - the sine of a given angle is the length of the side opposite the angle divided by the length of the hypotenuse.
Wave speed
Sine
Cycle
Isolated system
49. The separation of different color light via refraction.
Kepler's Third Law
Dispersion
Pascals
Gravitational constant
50. A collision in which the colliding particles stick together.
Kepler's Third Law
Completely inelastic collision
Scalar
Kinetic energy