PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT

1. DEFINITION
2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

3. CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT 4. EINSTEINS PHOTOELECTRIC EQUATION

h = wo + mvmax2 , wo = ho , h = ho + mvmax2

KEmax = vo .e , Vo = h - ho , vo = h / e - wo / e
Ref: Perspective of Modern Physics By Beiser Modern Physics By Theraja

PHOTO ELECTRIC EFFECT

DEFINITION

When radiation of suitable frequency falls on a metal, electrons are emitted. This phenomenon is called PHOTO ELECTRIC EFFECT.

In short, ejection of electrons from matter by means of light is called 'photo electric effect'.

EXPERIMENTAL ARRANGEMENT TO OBSERVE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT

1. If suitable light is allowed to fall on plate 'P', it will give out photo electrons. 2. The photo electrons are attracted by the collector 'C' connected to the +ve terminal of a battery. 3. The glass tube is evacuated. 4. When the collector 'C' is kept at +ve potential, the photo electrons are attracted by it and a current flows in the circuit which is indicated by the galvanometer.

THRESHOLD FREQUENCY Threshold frequency is defined as the minimum frequency of incident light which can cause photo electric emission i.e. this frequency is just able to eject electrons with out imparting K. E. to them It is denoted by o .

WORK FUNCTION 1. Minimum amount of energy which is necessary to start photo electric emission is called Work Function. If the amount of energy of incident radiation is less than the work function of the metal, no photo electrons are emitted. 2. It is denoted by Wo. 3. It is a property of material. Different materials have different values of work function. Generally, elements with low I.P values have low work function such as Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs.

STOPPING POTENTIAL 1. The negative potential of the plate 'C' at which the photo electric current becomes zero is called stopping potential or cut-off potential. 2. Stopping potential is that value of retarding potential difference between two plates which is just sufficient to halt the most energetic photo electrons emitted. 3. It is denoted by "Vo".

DEPENDENCE OF PHOTO ELECTRONS The number of photo electrons depends upon:

1. The nature of material 2. The frequency of incident radiation 3. The intensity of incident radiation

EFFECT OF FREQUENCY The graph shows that threshold frequency is the minimum frequency below which no electrons escape from the metal surface.

Vo vmax

EFFECT OF INTENSITY The plot given below shows the photo electric curves obtained by plotting photo electric current 'I' versus collector voltage 'V. It shows that there is a saturation current for different intensities and even when V=0, there is some photo electric current . The curve shows that the stopping potential is independent of the intensity of radiation.

If these curves are plotted for different frequencies 1 and 2 but with same intensity the curve shows the behavior as shown:
The saturation current depends upon intensity and not on frequency. However, the stopping potential becomes more -ve from V01to Vo2 with the increase in frequency.

FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF PHOTO ELECTRIC EMISSION 1. The no. of electrons emitted per second which determines the saturation current is proportional to the intensity of incident light.

2. There exists a threshold frequency below which no photo electric emission takes place.
3. The max. velocity or max. K.E of photoelectrons is independent of intensity and it varies directly with the frequency of radiation.

PHOTO- ELECTRIC EFFECT ON THE BASIS OF CLASSICAL ELECTRO- MAGNETIC THEORY OF MAXWELL Process of transfer of energy from waves (of light) to particles (electrons). (a) The intensity of em waves varies as square of the amplitude and is independent of frequency (b) The K.E of emitted electrons should be proportional to intensity and independent of frequency of incident light. (c) Minimum intensity but not Frequency of light should be necessary for the electrons to be emitted. (d) The process of emission should be a time- delayed process depending on intensity of light, and cannot be instantaneous.

EINSTEIN'S PHOTOELECTRIC EQUATION According to Plank's quantum theory, light is emitted from a source in the form of bundles of energy called photons. Energy of each photon is h. Einstein proposed that photons retain their identity in space. According to Einstein, when photons of energy fall on a metal surface, they transfer their energy to the electrons of metal. When the energy of photon is larger than the minimum energy required by the electrons to leave the metal surface, the emission of electrons take place instantaneously.

Thus the photon energy is partly used to liberate the electron from the surface of metal and the balance energy appears as the kinetic energy of emitted electron. Distribution of K. E. is explained by considering the distribution of total energy of free electrons in a metal.

Max K. E. h

< MaxK. E.

Wo= ho

Ef

Ef =(h2/2m) (3n/8)2/3

Equations from (1) to (6) are identical and are known as Einstein's photoelectric equations.

SUMMARY
When light falls on metal, electrons are ejected from metal, this is called Photo- electric Effect. (i) The number of Photo electrons emitted from a metal is proportional to the Intensity of light but is independent of the frequency of light. (ii) The max K.E of emitted electrons is proportional to the frequency of light and is independent of its intensity.

(iii) Unless light of minimum frequency - depending on the metal - is incident electrons are not ejected, for any intensity. (iv) The ejection of electrons is always instantaneous.