Modern Physics

PhotoElectric
LECTURE 1 Effect
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Wave - Particle Duality

Light has both Wave character & Particle character

Interference (YDSE)
Wave - Particle Duality

Properties/experiments that show wave nature of light :-

Interference

Diffraction

Polarization

There are other experiments which suggest Particle Nature of light

PhotoElectric Effect

When light of sufficiently high frequency

falls on a metal surface, electrons are ejected.
PhotoElectric Effect
free e-s inside metal
PhotoElectric Effect e-s bound to the metal ion

movement of e-s during conduction

PhotoElectric Effect

When light of particularly low frequency or high wavelength

falls on a metal surface, no electrons are ejected.
Light beam below
threshold frequency
PhotoElectric Effect

Work function (Φ) : minimum energy required by an e-

to escape from metal surface.

depends on nature & surface of metal

for eg.
Φplatinum : 5.65 eV

Φcesium : 2.14 eV

1 eV = 1.602 x 10-19 J
PhotoElectric Effect

When light of sufficiently high frequency or low wavelength

falls on a metal surface, electrons are ejected.
Photoelectrons
Light beam above
threshold frequency

This phenomenon is called Photoelectric effect.

PhotoElectric Effect

This experiment suggests that light is made up of particles,

rather quanta packets of energy known as Photons.

Properties of Photons

1. Photons always travels at a speed

c = 299,792,458 m/s in vacuum.

This is true w.r.t. any frame of reference.

Properties of Photons

2. Mass of photon is not defined according to mechanics.

We can say rest mass of photon is zero.

3. Photons are electrically neutral and are not affected

by electric and magnetic fields.

4. Photon-Particle collisions are perfectly elastic collisions.

Properties of Photons

5. Each photon has energy

E = hν = hc/λ

and momentum
p = h/λ = E/c

h: Planck’s constant

where h = 6.626 x 10-34 J-s

= 4.136 x 10-15 eV-s
Example
Let p and E denote the linear momentum and energy
of a photon. If the wavelength is decreased.

A. both p and E increase

B. p increases and E decreases

C. p decreases and E increases

D. both p and E decreases

Example
The energy of a photon in eV
of wavelength λ nm will be A.

B.

C.

D.
Example
Two photons having

A. equal wavelengths have equal linear momenta

B. equal energies have equal linear momenta

C. equal frequencies have equal linear momenta

D. equal linear momenta have equal wavelengths

Properties of Photons

6. By increasing the intensity of light of given wavelength

there is only an increase in the number of photons per second
crossing a given area with each photon having same energy.

Low Higher
Intensity Intensity
Going by Wave Theory, increasing the intensity would mean
transfer of more energy to the electrons.

But actual observations appeared to be at odds with

Maxwell's wave theory of light that suggests that
electron’s Kinetic Energy would be proportional to
intensity of the radiation.
But in reality the emission of electron is immediate and
its Kinetic Energy depends on frequency of light and not on its Intensity.

Not only that, emission happens only when

incident frequency is above a minimum value
called Threshold frequency.
Hence Photoelectric Effect validates Particle Nature where
Increasing Frequency and not Intensity results in Photo Emissions

Photons beam below Photons beam above

threshold frequency threshold frequency
PhotoElectric Effect

When light of sufficiently low wavelength falls on a

metal surface, electrons are ejected.

This phenomenon is called Photoelectric effect.

Electrons ejected from metal surfaces in

photoelectric effect are called photo electrons.
PhotoElectric Effect

Threshold frequency (ν0) : Minimum frequency below which

no ejection of photoelectrons takes place.

Threshold wavelength(λ0) : Maximum wavelength of incident light

for which photo emission takes place.
PhotoElectric Effect
K.E. of resulting electron depends on
energy of photon (E) and
work function of material (Φ).
Einstein’s PhotoElectric Equation

put forward in 1905,

got Nobel for this in 1921

Einstein’s
Photoelectric equation

Kmax = hc - Φ
λ
PhotoElectric Effect

Work function (Φ) : minimum energy required by an e-

to escape from metal surface.

depends on nature & surface of metal

for eg.
Φplatinum : 5.65 eV

Φcesium : 2.14 eV

1 eV = 1.602 x 10-19 J
PhotoElectric Effect
If Kmax = 0

Both v0& λ0 depend on the metal used.

Threshold frequency (v0) : Minimum frequency below which no ejection

of photoelectron takes place.

Threshold wavelength(λ0) : Maximum wavelength of incident light for

Which photo emission takes place.
Example Light of wavelength λ falls on a metal having work function
hc/λ0. Photoelectric effect will take place only if

A. λ ≥ λ0

B. λ ≥ 2λ0

C. λ ≤ λ0

D. λ < λ0 /2
Example The work function of a substance is 4.0 eV. The longest
wavelength of light that can cause photoelectron emission
from this substance is approximately
[IIT-JEE 1998]

A. 540 nm
B. 400 nm

C. 310 nm

D. 220 nm
Example A metallic surface ejects electrons when exposed to green
light of intensity I but not with yellow light of intensity I.
It is possible to eject electrons from the same surface by

1. yellow light of some intensity which is more than I

2. green light of any intensity

3. red light of any intensity

4. violet light of any intensity

A. (1), (2) B. (2), (3) C. (1), (4) D. (2), (4)

 Example Light of wavelength λ falls on a metal having work function
hc/λ0. Photoelectric effect will take place only if

A. λ ≥ λ0

B. λ ≥ 2λ0

C. λ ≤ λ0

D. λ < λ0 /2

Ans : C
 Example In photoelectric effect

A. photons come out of a metal when it

is hit by a beam of electrons

B. photons come out of the nucleus of an

atom under the action of an electric field
C. electrons come out of a metal with a constant velocity
which depends on the frequency and intensity of incident
radiation
D. electrons come out of a metal with different velocities
not greater than a certain value which depends only on the
frequency of the incident light and not on its intensity

Ans : D
Ashwani Sir
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