Photoelectric Effect Lab

Najma 12G
To access this simulation type
“Physics aviary + Photoelectric Lab” into your
browser.
Look for picture to right.
Click “More Tools” screen.
-----------------------------------

Light is energy that takes the form of BOTH an

electromagnetic wave and packets called photons.
Light energy can be absorbed by materials, causing
the material’s electrons to be ejected from the
surface. When Photons of light cause Electrons to be ejected it is called the PHOTOELECTRIC
effect.

Engage. What is Light?

1. What is the packet (or particle) form of light called? Photons

2. How is light represented as it come out of the lamp on the left? The photoelectric effect
proves that light has particle-like activity. The photoelectric effect happens when photons
are shone on metal and electrons are ejected from the surface of that metal.
Draw representation.

This simulation shows packets of waves versus one long wave to show that photons of light can
be absorbed by materials.

Explore.
3. Predict what would happen if you increase the brightness. The kinetic energy of emitted
photoelectrons should increase with the light amplitude. The rate of electron emission,
which is proportional to the measured electric current, should increase as the light
frequency is increased.

Credit to Physics Aviary for photos and simulations

 Photoelectric Effect Lab

4. Increase the brightness to the maximum. What happens? The kinetic energy of emitted
photoelectrons will also increase to the maximum with the light amplitude. The rate of
electron emission, which is proportional to the measured electric current, should
increase as the light frequency is increased.

5. So what is brightness, according to the simulation? The light frequency.

6. Predict what will change when you decrease the wavelength to 470nm? Explain why. As
the wavelength of the incident light decreases but is lower than the cut-off wavelength,
the maximum kinetic energy of the photo electrons increases.

7. Test it! Decrease the wavelength to 470nm. What happened? Why? As the wavelength
of the incident light decreases, the maximum kinetic energy of the photo electrons
increases.

8. How far did the electrons go when they absorbed blue light, compared to the green
light? Why? The kinetic energy of the electron is faster when they absorbed the blue
light compare to the green light. This is because when the wavelength of the incident
light decreases, the maximum kinetic energy of the photo electrons increases.

<-- green <--blue

9. Use the diagram of the light spectrum below to help explain the difference in the
movement of the electrons As the wavelength of the incident light decreases, the
maximum kinetic energy of the photo electrons increases. And As the wavelength of the
incident light increases, the maximum kinetic energy of the photo electrons decreases.

Credit to Physics Aviary for photos and simulations

 Photoelectric Effect Lab

Decreasing

Teacher Checkpoint.

Explain
10. PREDICT. What do you think will happen to THE WAVES if we increase the wavelength
to 530 nm? Explain cause and effect. As a wavelength increases in size, its frequency
and energy (E) decrease.

11. PREDICT. What do you think will happen to THE PHOTONS if we increase the
wavelength to 530 nm? Explain cause and effect. When the wavelength of the light is
increased, then the energy of the photon will decrease.

12. Test it! What happens to the waves and the photons? When the wavelength of the light
is increased, then the energy of the photon will decrease.

13. Now try 590 nm. What happens to the photons? Why do you think that is?
When the wavelength of the light is increased, then the energy of the photon will decrease.The
amount of energy is directly proportional to the photon's electromagnetic frequency and thus,
equivalently, is inversely proportional to the wavelength. The higher the photon's frequency, the
higher its energy.

Energy and work function.

The equation below shows that the energy of a photon, E, depends frequency.
In this equation E is equal to the product of h, Plank’s constant of 6.6 x 10-34 and ν, greek letter
nu, to represent frequency in terahertz (1THz = 1012 Hz. )

15. Find the Energy for the blue (650THz), green (550THz), and yellow (510THz) photons.
A. Eblue = 4.29 x10^-19 J

Credit to Physics Aviary for photos and simulations

Photoelectric Effect Lab

B. Egreen = 3.63 x10^-19 J

C. Eyellow = 3.36 x10^-19 J

Notice: The equation below shows that the energy of a photon can be absorbed by the
electrons of a material such as potassium. If enough energy is absorbed, the electrons can be
ejected from the surface of the material. The work function, represented by the Greek Letter Phi,
Φ, is the amount of energy required to eject the electron from the metal’s surface.

The energy of the photon is equal to the sum of the metal's work function and the electron’s
kinetic energy (the energy left over that allows the electron to move):

A. Eblue _________________ = K E  +  Φ
B. Egreen ________________ = K E  +  Φ
C. Eyellow ________________ = K E  +  Φ

16. Based on what happened in the simulation and the answers above, what do you think the
work function (the energy needed to excite the electrons) of potassium approximately is?
(Hint: If kinetic energy, KE, depends on the initial speed of the electron, then what is the kinetic
energy of an electron that doesn’t move? ___________)
The work function of potassium is around E blue.

17. Will a red light wave have the energy needed for the work function for potassium? How do you
know? The photoelectric effect does not occur when the red light strikes the metallic surface
because the frequency of red light is lower than the threshold frequency of the metal.

18. Will an ultraviolet light wave have the energy needed for the work function for potassium?
How do you know? The photon of blue light has higher energy as compared to red light; so blue
light emits electrons of greater kinetic energy than that of red light.

19. Think about the electron’s distance in green v blue light. How does the above equation prove
what happened? Yes, it does.

Credit to Physics Aviary for photos and simulations

 Photoelectric Effect Lab

Engineering
Solar Panels

What can light’s energy be used for? Solar cells, or photovoltaic cells (PV cells) use Photons of
sunlight to create Voltage. In others words, light energy is used to produce electrical energy.
In this simulation we see the metal is hooked up to an electric power supply.

24. Based on the simulation’s set up, try to explain how a solar panel might work.

When the sun shines onto a solar panel, energy from the sunlight is absorbed by the PV cells in
the panel. This energy creates electrical charges that move in response to an internal electrical
eld in the cell, causing electricity to ow.

Credit to Physics Aviary for photos and simulations

fi

fl