Question:

Briefly explain how the classical (wave) theory fails to account for photo electric effect.
Soln:
The wave theory states that radiation incident on a particular metal surface is shared equally by all
the surface and that radiation absorbed by the electrons is considerably small that the electrons
need to accumulate enough before escaping.
Eventually the electrons can be able to accumulate energy irrespective of the frequency of the
incident radiations. This contradicts the experimental observation because it ignores threshold
frequency.
The fact that electrons need some time to accumulate enough energy, this means that there is some
time that elapses for electrons to be emitted after the surface has been irradiated. This contradicts
the experimental observation of no time lag between irradiation of the surface and emission of
electrons.
According to the wave theory, increasing intensity increases the available energy. This implies
that kinetic energy increases with intensity and this contradicts the expected observation.
With the above views, the wave theory can not be used to explain photo electric emission.

Question:
Briefly explain how the quantum theory provides evidence for photo electric effect.

Soln:
The quantum theory states that any incident radiation consists of discrete packets of energy called
photons or quanta each of energy, E = hf, and it were these photons responsible for knocking off
electrons.
According to this theory, an electron can only be emitted if the energy of one photon is absorbed.
However, for the energy of the photon to be absorbed, it must be greater than the work function of
the metal. Hence there should be a minimum frequency for emission of electrons. This is in line
with the experimental observation.
If the energy of the photon is greater than the work function, the balance appears as kinetic energy
implying that electrons are emitted immediately.
Since the work function of the metal is always constant, it implies that increasing the frequency of
the incident radiation only increases the kinetic energy of the emitted electrons. This is in line with
the experimental view.
According to this theory, intensity is equal to number of photons multiplied by energy of one
photon (Intensity = nE) and since one photon interacts with one electron, increasing intensity only
increases number of electrons emitted but the energy of each photon remains constant. This is in
line with the experimental view.

Example: (2009)
A 100mW beam of light of wavelength 4.0 x 10 -7m falls on a caesium surface in a photocell.
(i) How many photons strike the caesium surface per second? (2.02 x 10 17)
(ii) If 65% of the photons emit photoelectrons, find the resulting photo current (0.021A)
(iii) Calculate the kinetic energy of each photon if the work function of caesium
(1.43 x 10 -19)