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SAT Physics
Physics
SAT Subjects Test – Physics measures the understanding of Physics at the college preparatory level. The duration of the test is one hour.
Purpose: SAT Subjects Test – Physics measures the understanding of physics at the college preparatory level.
Format: SAT Subjects Test – Physics follows the following given format.
- 75 multiple-choice questions.
- Questions cover topics emphasized in most high school courses; because of course differences, most students will find that there are some questions on topics with which they are not familiar.
Questions may require to
- recall and understand the major concepts of physics and to apply these physical principles to solve specific problems, for example; understand that the direction of any current is the direction of flow of positive charge (conventional current).
- understand simple algebraic, trigonometric and graphical relationships and the concepts of ratio and proportion and application of these to physics problems.
SAT Physics Test At A Glance
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CONTENT
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Approximate % of Test |
I. Mechanics - Kinematics such as velocity, acceleration, motion in one dimension and motion of projectiles
- Dynamics such as force, Newton’s laws, and statics
Energy and Momentum such as potential and kinetic energy, work, power, impulse, and conservation laws- Circular Motion, such as uniform circular motion and centripetal force
- Simple Harmonic Motion, such as mass on a spring and the pendulum
- Gravity such as the law of gravitation, orbits and Kepler’s laws
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36-42 |
II. Electricity and Magnetism - Electric Fields, Forces and Potentials such as Coulomb’s law, induced charge, field potential of groups of point charges and charged particles in electric fields
- Capacitance such as parallel-plate capacitors and transients
- Circuit Elements and DC Circuits such as resistors, light bulbs, series and parallel networks, Ohm’s law and Joule’s law
- Magnetism such as permanent magnets, fields caused by currents, particles in magnetic fields, Faraday’s law, Lenz’s law
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18-24 |
III. Waves and Optics - General Wave Properties such as wave speed, frequency, wavelength, superposition, standing waves and Doppler effect
- Reflection and Refraction such as Snell’s law and changes in wavelength and speed
- Ray Optics, such as image formation using pinholes, mirrors, and lenses
- Physical Optics such as single-slit diffraction, double-slit interference, polarization and colour
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15-19 |
IV. Heat and Thermodynamics - Thermal Properties such as temperature, heat transfer, specific, latent heats and thermal expansion
- B. Laws of Thermodynamics such as first and second laws, internal energy, entropy and heat engine efficiency.
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6-11 |
V. Modern Physics - Quantum Phenomena such as photons and photoelectric effect
- Atomic such as the Rutherford , Bohr models, atomic energy levels and atomic spectra
- Nuclear and Particle Physics such as radioactivity, nuclear reactions and fundamental particles
- Relativity, such as time dilation, length contraction and mass-energy equivalence
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6-11 |
VI. Miscellaneous - General such as history of physics and general questions that overlap several major topics
- Analytical Skills such as graphical analysis, measurement, and math skills
- Contemporary Physics such as astrophysics, superconductivity and chaos theory
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4-5 |
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