Lesson 1

A Particle Model of Waves

 Focus Question

Can light behave like a particle?

 New Vocabulary

emission spectrum photon

quantized work function
photoelectric effect Compton effect
threshold frequency
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCX78-8-q0
 A New Model Based on Packets of Energy

• A graph of the intensity of the radiation emitted

from an object over a range of frequencies is known
as an emission spectrum.
 A New Model Based on Packets of Energy
Note that as the temperature increases, the frequency
at which the maximum amount of energy is emitted also
increases.
 The Photoelectric Effect

• In 1905, Albert Einstein published a revolutionary

theory that explained the photoelectric effect.
• According to Einstein, visible light and other forms of
electromagnetic radiation consist of discrete,
quantized bundles of energy, each of which was later
called a photon.
 The Photoelectric Effect
The emission of electrons when electromagnetic radiation falls
on an object (mainly metal)is called the photoelectric effect.

Electrons removed from a metal in this manner

are known as photoelectrons

The photoelectric effect provides important

evidence that light is quantised, or carried in
discrete packets

*each electron can absorb only a single photon

*only the frequencies of light above a threshold frequency () will emit a photoelectron

*The minimum energy required to release a photoelectron from the surface of a metal is
called workfunction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-1zjdUTu0o
 The Photoelectric Effect
• The energy of a photon depends on its frequency.

Energy of a Photon E  hf
• This equation can be written in terms of wavelength and simplified by inserting
the values of h and c.

Energy of a Photon E  hc 1240 eVnm


λ λ
The Photoelectric Effect
 The Photoelectric Effect
• Electrons eject from the cathode only if the frequency of the incident
radiation is greater than a certain minimum value, called the threshold
frequency (f0).

• The gradient is equal to Planck's

constant h
• There are no electrons emitted
below the threshold frequency f0
 The Photoelectric Effect
• Because one photon interacts with one electron, an electron cannot simply store
energy from low-frequency photons until it collects enough energy to break free.
• Radiation with a frequency greater than f0 provides more than enough energy to
eject an electron. In fact, the excess energy becomes the ejected electron’s kinetic
energy.

• KEmax = hf - hf0

where hf is photon’s energy and hf0 is work function

 Photocell

The kinetic energy of the ejected electrons can be

measured indirectly, using the device shown. When the
potential difference
is adjusted to make
the anode negative,
the ejected electrons
must expend energy
to reach the anode.
 Photocell

• Only electrons ejected from the cathode with

sufficient kinetic energy will be able to reach the
anode.
• At a certain voltage, called the stopping potential,
there are no electrons with enough kinetic energy to
reach the anode, and the current stops.
• At the stopping potential, the kinetic energy of the
electrons at the cathode equals the work done by the
electric field to stop them: KE = −eΔV0.
 Applications

• Digital cameras use a grid of tiny photoelectric

detectors—several million of them, packed in a few
square centimeters.
• Solar panels also operate using the photoelectric effect.
 KNOWN UNKNOWN
q = –1.60×10−19 C KE = ?
Use with Example Problem 1. V0 = 2.24 V
Problem SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN
A potassium metal cathode has a stopping • Use the relationship among stopping voltage,
potential of 2.24 V. What energy in joules is kinetic energy, and charge.
given to the electrons by the incident light?
KE  qV0
 
  1.6010 19 C 2.24 V 
 3.5810 19 J
The graphs of
various metals
differ only
in the threshold
frequency needed
to free the
electrons.