Kendriya Vidyalaya

Aliganj Lucknow

AISSCE – 2023-24

CLASS – 12th

Physics (042)

Project Topic- Study of Photoelectric effect

Submitted by: Himanshu Dubey

Roll No. :
Date:
Submitted to:

Signature of Internal Examiner

Signature of External Examiner

 Acknowledgement
I would want to convey my gratitude to everyone who
has assisted me in finishing my assignment successfully.
First and first, I want to thank CBSE from the bottom of
my heart for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to
develop a project and learn more about this fascinating
subject. I got to learn a lot from this project about
Photoelectric effect.
Second, I want to express my gratitude to our
institution’s principal for providing us with the
inspiration and amazing support we needed to finish the
project.
I would like to specially thank Mr. Pawan Kumar, my
Physics teacher , who guided me through every step of
the project’s preparation. His suggestions and directions
have helped in the completion of this project.
Finally, I’d want to thank everyone who has helped me
along the way, including my parents, and friends, whose
support has made this effort possible.
 Certificate
This is to certify that HIMANSHU DUBEY of class
12th has completed the physics project titled
“Photoelectric effect” in partial fulfilment of
curriculum of CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY
EDUCATION (CBSE). This project was carried out
in the school laboratory of PM SHRI KENDRIYA
VIDYALAYA ALIGANJ LUCKNOW during the
academic year 2023-2024.

Sign.:–

Internal examiner External examiner

Date:–
 INDEX
➢ Acknowledgement
➢ Certificate
➢ Aim of Project
➢ History
➢ Introduction
➢ Apparatus
description
➢ Laws of
Photoelectric emission
➢ Explanation of
photoelectric emission
➢ Effect of Intensity
➢ Effect of Potential
➢ Effect of Frequency
➢ Observation
➢ Conclusion
➢ Bibliography
Aim of Project
To study the Photoelectric Effect and the experimental study of
Photoelectric effect.

HISTORY
Photoelectric effect was discovered by Hertz in 1887. Hallwachs
in 1888, undertook experiment and observed that when UV light
falls on the surface of zinc rod, some electron near its surface
absorbs sufficient energy from incident radiation and overcome
the surface barrier.
W. Hallwachs and P. Leonard found how the current due to photo
electrons depends upon the anode potential, the frequency and
intensity of the incident radiation.

Introduction
Photoelectric effect is the process of emitting the electrons from a
metal surface when the metal surface is exposed to an
electromagnetic radiation of sufficiently high frequency. For
example, ultra violet light is required in the case of ejection of
electrons from an alkali metal. The photoelectric effect occurs
because the electrons at the surface of the metal tend to absorb
energy from the incident light and use it to overcome the attractive
forces that bind them to the metallic nuclei.
Apparatus Description
• An evacuated tube has two electrodes
connected to an external circuit.
• The metal plate whose surface is to be
irradiated acts as the anode.
• A voltmeter is used to measure the potential
difference between cathode and anode.
• The photoelectric current that flows in the
circuit can be measured by micro ammeter.
• Some of the photoelectrons that emerge from
the radiated surface have sufficient energy to
reach the cathode despite its negative polarity
and they constitute the current.
• As the retarding potential is increased fewer
and fewer electrons are able to reach the
cathode and the current drops. When V exceeds
a certain value V0no further electrons are able
to strike the cathode and the current drops to
zero.

Laws of Photoelectric
Emission
• There is no time lag between the incidence of radiation of the
surface and the ejection of the electrons.

• The photoelectric current is directly proportional to the

intensity of incident light.

• The maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons emitted

from a given metal surface is independent of the intensity but
depends only on the frequency of the incident radiation.

• Photoelectric current is directly proportional to the intensity

of incident radiation and independent of its frequency.

• Minimum value of the frequency of radiation incident on a

given surface below which emission of photoelectron does not
take place is called threshold frequency.
Explanation of Photoelectric
Effect
The photoelectric effect cannot be explained on the basis of
electromagnetic theory.
In 1905 Einstein proposed that the photoelectric effect could be
understood through the idea proposed by the German theoretical
physicist Max Planck in 2000.
Planck was seeking to explain the characteristics of the radiation
emitted by hot bodies.
Plank assumed that while the radiation is emitted continuously as
little bursts of energy called quanta but propagated continuously in
space as electromagnetic waves.
Einstein proposed that light not only was emitted as quanta at a time
but also propagated as individual quanta, sufficiently small to be
absorbed by the electron.
Planck found that the quantity associated with a particular
frequency ν of light all had the same energy and that this energy
was proportional to ν that is
E=hν
Photoelectric effect can be explained by the following equation
E(=hν) = hν0 + Tmax
Effect of Intensity
The number of electrons emitted per second is observed to be
directly proportional to the intensity of sunshine. It is due to the
electrons emitted from C are attracted to the collector A, the
collector A is maintained at a positive potential with reference to
emitter C. With a fixed frequency of incident radiation and the
accelerating potential, the intensity of light is varied and
concluding photoelectric current is measured every time. Hence,
the photoelectric current increases linearly with the intensity of
incident light.

Effect of Potential
Value of the potential that the photocurrent becomes zero
because of the stopping potential or the retarding potential. The
increased negative potential of the collector plate, the more effort
that an electron has got to make if it wants to flee successfully
from the metal surface.
EFFECT OF FREQUENCY
We know that the energy of photoelectrons increases as we
increase the frequency. This means that their kinetic energy will
be more. Hence higher frequency means a greater speed of a
photoelectron. We also know that λ = c/ν. Hence if the wavelength
is increased, the frequency will be decreased and vice-versa. So
lesser wavelength means greater frequency and greater speed of
the photoelectrons.
 Observation
1. Existence of threshold frequency
For a given metal, no photoelectrons are emitted if the
frequency of the incident light is lower than a certain
frequency. If the light frequency is below this threshold
frequency for that metal, no photoelectrons can be
emitted, no matter the intensity of the incident radiation is
or for how long it falls on the surface of the metal.
2. Emission is instantaneous
Emission of photoelectrons takes place almost
instantaneously after the light shines on the metal, with no
detectable time delay. It does not depend on the intensity
of the incident radiation.
3. Maximum Kinetic Energy of the photoelectron is
independent of intensity of incident electromagnetic
radiation.
4. Rate of emission of photoelectrons proportional to
intensity of incident electromagnetic radiation
 Conclusion
As we appreciated the simplicity and elegance of
Einstein’s explanation of photoelectric effect, we came to
know about the particle behaviour of light. He introduced
revolutionary ideas which were contrary to the scientific
opinion of the time. The photon hypothesis disturbed the
scientific community much more than the seventeenth
century Newton - Huygens heated debate on the
corpuscular and the wave nature of light. But the new
theory gave a better description of the physical nature
than the comfortable old classical ideas.
Hence, the world came to know about the dual nature of
light. That is, a monochromatic beam of light of frequency
, hence possessing wave attributes, manifests in some
experiments as though it is a stream of quanta called
photons.
 Bibliography
• www.google.com
• www.wiki.com
• NCERT TEXTBOOK OF CLASS 12 PHYSICS
• www.colledgedunia.com
• www.vedantu.com
• https://chemdemos.uoregon.edu/demos/Photoelectri
c-Effect#
• www.physicsucla.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org/
• www.googleimages.com
• www.britannica.com
• https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/photoelectric-effect-
definition-equation-characteristics-applications/
• https://physics.info/photoelectric/