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This book is provided FREE withtest registration by the
Graduate Record Examinations Board.
Graduate Record Examinations®
This practice book
contains
one actual full-length
GRE Physics Test
test-taking strategies
PHYSICS
Become familiar with
test structure and content
TEST
test instructions and
answering procedures
PRACTICE
Compare your practice
test results with the
performance of those
who took the test at a
BOOK
GRE administration.
Visit GRE Online at www.gre.org
, Note to Test Takers: Keep this practice book until you receive your score report.
The book contains important information about content specifications and scoring.
Copyright 2001 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved.
EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, the ETS logos, GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS,
and GRE are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.
, the GRE Writing Assessment score, and GRE General
Table of Contents Test scores. For information about the appropriate use
of GRE scores, write to GRE Program, Educational
Purpose of the GRE Subject Tests ............................ 3
Testing Service, Mail Stop 57-L, Princeton, NJ 08541,
Development of the Subject Tests............................ 3 or visit our Web site at www.gre.org/codelst.html.
Content of the Physics Test ..................................... 4
Preparing for a Subject Test...................................... 5 Development of the
Test-Taking Strategies .............................................. 6 Subject Tests
What Your Scores Mean ........................................... 6 Each new edition of a Subject Test is developed by a
Practice Physics Test ................................................. 9 committee of examiners composed of professors in the
subject who are on undergraduate and graduate facul-
Scoring Your Subject Test ...................................... 73
ties in different types of institutions and in different
Evaluating Your Performance ................................. 76 regions of the United States and Canada. In selecting
Answer Sheet ......................................................... 77 members for each committee, the GRE Program seeks
the advice of the appropriate professional associations
in the subject.
Purpose of the GRE The content and scope of each test are specified
Subject Tests and reviewed periodically by the committee of examin-
ers. Test questions are written by the committee and by
The GRE Subject Tests are designed to help graduate other faculty who are also subject-matter specialists
school admission committees and fellowship sponsors and by subject-matter specialists at ETS. All questions
assess the qualifications of applicants in specific fields proposed for the test are reviewed by the committee
of study. The tests also provide you with an assessment and revised as necessary. The accepted questions are
of your own qualifications. assembled into a test in accordance with the content
Scores on the tests are intended to indicate knowl- specifications developed by the committee to ensure
edge of the subject matter emphasized in many under- adequate coverage of the various aspects of the field
graduate programs as preparation for graduate study. and, at the same time, to prevent overemphasis on any
Because past achievement is usually a good indicator of single topic. The entire test is then reviewed and
future performance, the scores are helpful in predicting approved by the committee.
success in graduate study. Because the tests are stan- Subject-matter and measurement specialists on the
dardized, the test scores permit comparison of students ETS staff assist the committee, providing information
from different institutions with different undergraduate and advice about methods of test construction and
programs. For some Subject Tests, subscores are pro- helping to prepare the questions and assemble the test.
vided in addition to the total score; these subscores In addition, each test question is reviewed to eliminate
indicate the strengths and weaknesses of your prepara- language, symbols, or content considered potentially
tion, and they may help you plan future studies. offensive, inappropriate for major subgroups of the test-
The GRE Board recommends that scores on the taking population, or likely to perpetuate any negative
Subject Tests be considered in conjunction with other attitude that may be conveyed to these subgroups. The
relevant information about applicants. Because numer- test as a whole is also reviewed to ensure that the test
ous factors influence success in graduate school, questions, where applicable, include an appropriate
reliance on a single measure to predict success is not balance of people in different groups and different roles.
advisable. Other indicators of competence typically Because of the diversity of undergraduate curricula,
include undergraduate transcripts showing courses it is not possible for a single test to cover all the
taken and grades earned, letters of recommendation, material you may have studied. The examiners,
PHYSICS TEST 3
PRACTICE BOOK
, therefore, select questions that test the basic knowl- The aim of the test is to determine the extent of
edge and skills most important for successful graduate the examinees’ grasp of fundamental principles and
study in the particular field. The committee keeps the their ability to apply these principles in the solution
test up-to-date by regularly developing new editions of problems. Most test questions can be answered on
and revising existing editions. In this way, the test the basis of a mastery of the first three years of under-
content changes steadily but gradually, much like most graduate physics.
curricula. In addition, curriculum surveys are con- The International System (SI) of units is used
ducted periodically to ensure that the content of a test predominantly in the test. A table of information (see
reflects what is currently being taught in the under- page 10) representing various physical constants and a
graduate curriculum. few conversion factors among SI units is presented in
After a new edition of a Subject Test is first admin- the test book.
istered, examinees’ responses to each test question are The approximate percentages of the test on the
analyzed in a variety of ways to determine whether major content topics have been set by the committee
each question functioned as expected. These analyses of examiners, with input from a nationwide survey of
may reveal that a question is ambiguous, requires undergraduate physics curricula. The percentages
knowledge beyond the scope of the test, or is inappro- reflect the committee’s determination of the relative
priate for the total group or a particular subgroup of emphasis placed on each topic in a typical undergradu-
examinees taking the test. Answers to such questions ate program. These percentages are given below along
are not used in computing scores. with the major subtopics included in each content
Following this analysis, the new test edition is category. In each category, the subtopics are listed
equated to an existing test edition. In the equating roughly in order of decreasing importance for inclusion
process, statistical methods are used to assess the in the test. Nearly all the questions in the test will
difficulty of the new test. Then scores are adjusted so relate to material in this listing; however, there may be
that examinees who took a difficult edition of the test occasional questions on other topics not explicitly
are not penalized, and examinees who took an easier listed here.
edition of the test do not have an advantage. Varia-
tions in the number of questions in the different 1. CLASSICAL MECHANICS (such as 20%
editions of the test are also taken into account in kinematics, Newton’s laws, work and
this process. energy, oscillatory motion, rotational
Scores on the Subject Tests are reported as three- motion about a fixed axis, dynamics of
digit scaled scores with the third digit always zero. systems of particles, central forces and
The maximum possible range for all Subject Test total celestial mechanics, three-dimensional
scores is from 200 to 990. The actual range of scores for particle dynamics, Lagrangian and
a particular Subject Test, however, may be smaller. The Hamiltonian formalism, noninertial
maximum possible range of Subject Test subscores is reference frames, elementary topics in
20 to 99; however, the actual range of subscores for any fluid dynamics)
test or test edition may be smaller. Subject Test score 2. ELECTROMAGNETISM (such as 18%
interpretive information is provided in Interpreting Your electrostatics, currents and DC
GRE Scores, which you will receive with your GRE circuits, magnetic fields in free space,
score report, and on the GRE Web site at www.gre.org/ Lorentz force, induction, Maxwell’s
codelst.html. equations and their applications,
electromagnetic waves, AC circuits,
magnetic and electric fields in matter)
Content of the Physics Test
3. OPTICS AND WAVE PHENOM- 9%
The test consists of about 100 five-choice questions, ENA (such as wave properties, super-
some of which are grouped in sets and based on such position, interference, diffraction,
materials as diagrams, graphs, experimental data, and geometrical optics, polarization,
descriptions of physical situations. Doppler effect)
4 PHYSICS TEST
PRACTICE BOOK
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