SAT词汇的掌握是大家取得SAT考试好成绩的基础，今天小编为大家提供了有关物理学的词汇，以下是详细内容。

　　Tail

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

　　Tangent

　　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.

　　Temperature

　　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.

　　Tension force

　　The force transmitted along a rope or cable.

　　Thermal energy

　　The energy of the molecules that make up an object. It is related to heat, which is the amount of energy transferred from one object to another object that is a different temperature.

　　Thermal equilibrium

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

　　Third Law of Thermodynamics

　　An object cannot be cooled to absolute zero.

　　Threshold frequency

　　A property of a metal, the minimum frequency of electromagnetic radiation that is necessary to release photoelectrons from that metal.

　　Tip

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

　　Torque

　　The effect of force on rotational motion.

　　Total internal reflection

　　The phenomenon by which light traveling from a high n to a low n material will reflect from the optical interface if the incident angle is greater than the critical angle.

　　Transformer

　　A device made of two coils, which converts current of one voltage into current of another voltage. In a step-up transformer, the primary coil has fewer turns than the secondary, thus increasing the voltage. In a step-down transformer, the secondary coil has fewer turns than the primary, thus decreasing the voltage.

　　Translational kinetic energy

　　The energy of a particle moving in space. It is defined in s of a particle’s mass, m, and velocity, v, as (1/2)mv2.

　　Translational motion

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

　　Transverse waves

　　Waves in which the medium moves in the direction perpendicular to the propagation of the wave. Waves on a stretched string, water waves, and electromagnetic waves are all examples of transverse waves.

　　Traveling waves

　　A wave with wave crests that propagate down the length of the medium, in contrast to stationary standing waves. The velocity at which a crest propagates is called the wave speed.

　　Trough

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

　　Scalar

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

　　Second Law of Thermodynamics

　　There are a few versions of this law. One is that heat flows spontaneously from hot to cold, but not in the reverse direction. Another is that there is no such thing as a 100% efficient heat engine. A third states that the entropy, or disorder, of a system may increase but will never decrease spontaneously.

　　Significant digits

　　The number of digits that have been accurately measured. When combining several measurements in a formula, the resulting calculation can only have as many significant digits as the measurement that has the smallest number of significant digits.

　　Simple harmonic oscillator

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

　　Sine

　　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.

　　Snell's Law

　　Relates the angle of incidence to the angle of refraction: .

　　Sound

　　Waves carried by variations in air pressure. The speed of sound waves in air at room temperature and pressure is roughly 343 m/s.

　　Specific heat

　　The amount of heat of a material required to raise the temperature of either one kilogram or one gram of that material by one degree Celsius. Different units may be used depending on whether specific heat is measured in s of grams or kilograms, and joules or calories.

　　Spectroscope

　　A device that breaks incoming light down into spectral rays, so that one can see the exact wavelength constituents of the light.

　　Speed

　　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.

　　Spring

　　Objects that experience oscillatory or simple harmonic motion when distorted. Their motion is described by Hooke’s Law.

　　Spring constant

　　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 of k, more resistant the spring is to being displaced.

　　Standing wave

　　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.

　　Static friction

　　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.

　　Strong nuclear force

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

　　Sublimation

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

　　Superposition

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

　　System

　　A body or set of bodies that we choose to analyze as a group.