THE PHOTOELECTRIC

EFFECT
By Aaron, Dulith, Harry and Konrad
HISTORY

■ In 1887, Heinrich Hertz noticed sparks would jump between two spheres when their
surfaces were illuminated by light from another spark. This would later go on to be
explained by Einstein, in which he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize.
■ This is now known as the photoelectric effect.
THE GOLD LEAF
ELECTROSCOPE
EXPERIMENT
■ The diagram shows a clean zinc plate placed upon the
gold leaf electroscope, which has been negatively
charged.
■ As an ordinary lamp (red laser light) is shone onto the
zinc plate, there is no effect. This will occur no matter the
intensity of the light.
■ However as an ultra violet light (UV) is shone onto the
zinc plate, the leaf immediately falls, as the electroscope
has been discharged.
■ When the zinc plate was exposed to the UV light, it
started emitting electrons, causing the fall (as the golf
leaf was negatively charged).
■ Radiation with longer wavelengths will not produce any
results, due to the lower frequency and energy.
EXPERIMENT FINDINGS

■ No electrons were emitted if the golden leaf electroscope was positively charged.
■ The number of electrons emitted per second depended on the intensity on the
incident radiation.
■ The energy of the electrons was dependent on the frequency of the incident
radiation.
■ There was a minimum frequency below which no electrons were emitted irrelevant
of how long the plate was exposed to the radiation.
THRESHOLD FREQUENCY AND WORK
FUNCTION
■ The threshold frequency is the minimum frequency for a metal. photons with a lower
frequency will not cause electron emission.
■ The work function is the energy required to remove a photoelectron from a surface.
The equation can be seen below:

■ ℎ𝑓 = 𝐸𝐾 + Φ
■ E𝐾 = ℎ𝑓 − Φ (𝑦 = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝑐) ℎ – Plank’s constant
𝑓 – Frequency
𝐸𝐾 – Kinetic energy
Φ – Work function
PHOTONS AND ENERGY

■ In some situations, the electromagnetic radiation behaves as photons, which are

discrete packet of energy.
■ The energy of each photon is directly proportional to its frequency, this presents the
equation:

■ 𝐸 = ℎ𝑓 𝐸 – Photon energy
■ 𝐸=
ℎ𝑐 ℎ – Plank’s constant
λ 𝑓 – Frequency
𝑐 – Speed of light
𝜆 – Wavelength
ELECTRONVOLTS

■ The energy of an individual photon (or electron) is extremely small, therefore the
electronvolt (eV) is used instead. 1 eV = 1.6x10-19 J.
■ When an electron is accelerated with a potential difference of 1 V, it has an energy
of 1 eV. 1 V = 1 eV.

■ 𝑊 = 𝑉𝑄 or W = 𝑉𝑒 𝑊 – Energy
𝑉 – Potential
difference
𝑄 – Charge
𝑒 – Electron Charge
REFERENCES

■ http://www.schoolphysics.co.uk
■ http://www.bbc.co.uk