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EinsteinandthePhotoelectriceffect
So,Planckcould

reproducetheobservedblackbodyspectrum(good)
provideatheoreticalinterpretation(better)

Butinsomeways,hedidn'treallybelieveinthequantarequiredbyhisexplanationoftheblackbodyspectrum.Hedidn'tseetheconsequencesofdiscrete
energypackets....butsomeoneelsedid.AyoungmannamedAlbertEinstein.EinsteinsawthatPlanck'sideawouldexplainsomemysteriouspropertiesof
experimentsinwhichlightshoneonmetalelectrodes.

Thephotoelectriceffect

Attheturnofthecentury,physicistswhoexperimentedwithelectricityhadnoticedsomethingabouttheinteractionoflight,metals,andelectriccurrent.
OneofthemostthoroughaccountsofsuchexperimentswaswrittenbyLenard,inAnnalenderPhysik,vol.4,p.149(1902)(writteninGerman,inwhichI
amnotfluent,alas).

OneofLenard'sexperimentsinvolvedshininglightonapieceofmetalwhichwaspartofabrokencircuit:
Inthisfigure,acircuitconnectsmetalplatesUandE,whichareseparatedinavacuumbyasmallgap.Onecansetavoltageacrosstheplatesbymodifying
thecircuit.LightfromsourceLshinesontoplateU.

ThelightwavesmayknocksomeelectronsoutoftheplateU,causingthemtoflyacrosstotheotherplateE.Theseelectronscompletethecircuit.Onecan
useanammetertomeasurepreciselyhowmanyelectronsjumpfromoneplatetotheother.

Thiscurrentofelectronsproducedbylightiscalledthephotoelectriceffect.

Now,ifonearrangesthevoltagebetweentheplatessothatthe"source"plateUisnegative,andthe"receptor"plateEispositive,theelectronsarepushed
awayfromthesourceandtowardsthereceptorwhichhelpsthecurrenttoflow.Butifonemakesthe"source"positive,andthe"receptor"negative,then
thevoltageacrosstheplatespushestheelectronsBACKtothesource.

Ifonestartswithzerovoltageacrosstheplates,thensomecurrentwillflowwhenthelightisturnedon:electronsknockedoffthe"source"platewithany
speedwilleventuallyreachthe"target"plate.Butifonegraduallyincreasesthevoltagedifference,fewerandfewerelectronswillmakethejourney,and
eventuallythecurrentdisappears.InthisfigurefromLenard'spaper,thepotentialvoltageisplottedonthehorizontalaxis,andthecurrentonthevertical
axis.ThereisasmalloffsetfromzerocurrentduetoLenard'sapparatus.
What'sgoingon?Aseachelectronmovesfromthepositive"source"platetowardsthe"receptor"plate,itmustdoworkagainsttheelectricfieldit
exchangeskineticenergyforelectricpotentialenergy.Atsomepoint,itlosesallitskineticenergy...andsostopsmovingforward.Now,whentheelectrons
areknockedfree,somehavealotofkineticenergy,othersonlyalittle.Theoneswiththemostkineticenergyarethelastonestostopreachingthe
"receptor"asweincreasethevoltagedifference.WecancalculatethisMAXIMUMkineticenergyamongthephotoelectrons:

(Fortunately,theseelectronsaren'tmovingatrelativisticspeeds!)

InthefigurefromLenard'spapershownabove,whatwasthemaximumkineticenergyofthephotoelectrons?

Thewavetheoryfailstoexplaintheobservations

Now,onemighttrytoexplainthisphotoelectriceffectwithwavesoflight:lightwavesimpingeonthesourceplate.Theygiveenergytoelectronsonthe
plate.Theelectronsflyoffthesourceplatetothereceptor.Thewavetheorypredictsseveralthings:

1.Themoreintensethelight,themoreenergytheelectronswillhavewhentheflyofftheplate.
2.Ifthelightisveryfeeble,onemayhavetoexposethesourceplateforseveralsecondsorminutesuntilenoughwavesstrikeittoknockelectrons
loose.
3.Wavesofanyfrequencyoughttoknockelectronsfree.

Carefulmeasurementsinthelab,however,showedthatthesepredictionswerewrong,wrong,wrong.

1.TheenergyoftheelectronsdoesNOTdependontheintensityofthelight.
2.TheelectronsalwaysappearASSOONASthelightreachestheplate(thoughafeeblelightproducesonlyafew).
3.NOelectronsareproducedifthefrequencyofthelightwavesisbelowacriticalvalue.

Einsteinsuggestsasolution

Planck'sexplanationoftheblackbodyspectrumwaspublishedin1900.Fiveyearslater,Einsteinpublishedapaper(intheverysameissueashisfamous
paperonrelativity)whichusedPlanck'sideaofquantatoexplainthephotoelectriceffect'squirks.Hewrote:

Inaccordancewiththeassumptiontobeconsideredhere,theenergyofalightrayspreadingoutfromapointsourceisnotcontinuously
distributedoveranincreasingspace,butconsistsofafinitenumberofenergyquantawhicharelocalizedatpointsinspace,whichmove
withoutdividing,andwhichcanonlybeproducedandabsorbedascompleteunits.

Inotherwords,Einsteinproposedthatlightbehavednotlikeawave,butlikeaparticle:thephoton(awordcoinedin1926byG.N.Lewis).

Howdoesthisexplaintheobservedphotoelectricphenomena?

1.TheenergyoftheelectronsdoesNOTdependontheintensityofthelight.
Eachelectronabsorbsonlyonephotonatatime.Iftheabsorbedenergyislargeenoughtoexpeltheelectronfromthemetal,itleaves.Ifnot,
theelectrondissipatesitsenergyincollisionswithnearbyelectronsandatomsbeforeitcanabsorbanotherphoton.
 Andyes,thisimpliesthatthetimeittakesforanelectrontolosetheenergygainedinoneabsorptionismuchsmallerthantheintervalbetween
absorptions.Underordinarycircumstances,itis.

2.TheelectronsalwaysappearASSOONASthelightreachestheplate(thoughafeeblelightproducesonlyafew).
Assoonasasinglephotoncontainingsufficientenergystrikesthesourceplate,itwillknockanelectronfree.Thereisnoneedtowaitfor
multiplewavestobuildupenoughenergy.

3.NOelectronsareproducedifthefrequencyofthelightwavesisbelowacriticalvalue.
Sincetheenergyofeachphotonis

belowsomecriticalfrequency,nophotonhasenoughenergytoknockanelectronfree.

Moreover,Einstein'stheorywasabletomakeoneverystrongprediction:themaximumenergyofejectedelectronsshouldincreaselinearlywithfrequency
oftheappliedlight.AgainquotingEinstein,

...Weshallassumethatinleavingthebody,eachelectronmustperformanamountofworkPcharacteristicofthesubstance.Theejected
electronsleavingthebodywiththelargestnormalvelocitywillbethosethatwere[locatedexactlyon]thesurface.Thekineticenergyofsuch
electronsisgivenbyh*P.

IfthebodyischargedtoapositivepotentialV0andissurroundedbyconductorsatzeropotential,andifV0isjustlargeenoughtopreventthe
lossofelectricity,itfollowsthat

whereeistheelectroniccharge...

Einsteinisprovedright

Itseemssimpleenoughtotestthisidea:shinelightofvariousfrequenciesonasourceplate,andmeasurethevoltageV0whichjuststopsthecurrentfrom
flowing.Andyetnoonehadevertriedit:

Atthetimeatwhichitwasmade,thispredictionwasasboldasthehypothesiswhichsuggestedit,foratthattimetherewereavailableno
experimentswhateverfordetermininganythingabouthowthepositivepotentialVnecessarytoapplytotheilluminatedelectrodetostopthe
dischargeofnegativeelectronsfromitundertheinfluenceofmonochromaticlightvariedwiththefrequencyofthelight,orwhetherthe
quantityhtowhichPlanckhadalreadyassignedanumericalvalueappearedatallinconnectionwithphotoelectricdischarge.
Millikan,TheElectron,1917

ThiswasexactlywhatRobertAndrewsMillikan(yes,thatMillikan)did.Inanexperimentperformedin1915(andpublishedinPhysicalReview,,volVII,
p.362(1916)),hesetupasysteminwhichhecouldmeasurethephotoelectriceffectaccuratelyfromfreshlyscrapedsurfacesofalkalimetals.Theglass
vesselshownbelowwasevacuatedoneofthemetalsamplesmountedonthewheelWatthecenterwasrotatedtobringitnexttotheknifeK,which
scrapeditcleanthenthesamplewasrotated180degreestofacelightshiningthroughapertureO.

Millikan'sdataisshownbelow(I'vewipedcleanhiscalculationofthevalueofhfromthegraph).Heshonelightofvariousfrequencies(plottedonthe
horizontalaxisnotethefactorof10tothe13'thpower!)onthemetalplate,anddeterminedtheminimumvoltage(plottedontheverticalaxis)necessaryto
halttheinducedcurrent.
Doesthestoppingvoltageincreaselinearlywithfrequencyoftheincidentlight?

WhatisthevalueofPlanck'sconstanthbasedonthisdata?

CopyrightMichaelRichmond.ThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsLicense.