The Photoelectric Effect

The ejection of electrons from a metallic surface

when the light of suitable frequency is allowed
to fall on the surface. This suitable frequency is
called threshold frequency and the
corresponding wavelength is called threshold wavelength.
Work function: The work function is the energy required to
remove an electron from the highest filled level in the Fermi
distribution of a solid. It is given by,
 Laws of photoelectric effect

1. Increasing the intensity of the light increased the number of

photoelectrons, but not their maximum kinetic energy.
2. If the frequency of the incident light is less than the threshold
frequency then no electron is ejected, no matter what the
intensity.
3. The maximum kinetic energy of the electrons depend on the
frequency of the incident light.
4. The electrons were emitted immediately - no time lag.
 Einstein's photoelectric equation
According to Einstein, when the light of suitable frequency
fall on a metallic surface then the light photon transfers
it’s energy to the electron. The electron spends a part of
this energy in coming to the surface and ejects with
remaining energy as it’s kinetic energy.

Where,
h= Planck’s constant.
= Threshold frequency.
 The Uncertainty Principle
The position and momentum of a particle cannot be
simultaneously measured with arbitrarily high precision.
There is a minimum for the product of the uncertainties of
these two measurements. There is likewise a minimum for
the product of the uncertainties of the energy and time,
angular position and angular momentum.
1.This is not a statement about the inaccuracy of
measurement instruments, nor a reflection on the quality of
experimental methods; it arises from the wave properties
inherent in the quantum mechanical description of nature.
Even with perfect instruments and technique the uncertainty
is inherent in the nature of things.
2. Important steps on the way to understanding the
uncertainty principle are wave particle duality and the de-
Broglie hypothesis. As you proceed downward in size to
atomic dimensions, it is no longer valid to consider a
particle like a hard sphere, because the smaller the
dimension, the more wave-like it becomes. say that the
electron acts as a wave, then the wave is the quantum
mechanical wave function and it is therefore
It no longer makes sense to say that you have precisely
determined both the position and momentum of such a
particle. When you related to the probability of finding the
electron at any point in space. A perfect sinewave for the
electron wave spreads that probability throughout all of
space, and the "position" of the electron is completely
uncertain.
 Electromagnetic Waves

These are the waves which do not need any medium for
their propagation. They propagate with the speed of light.
Electromagnetic Wave Equation:
The wave equation for a plane electric wave traveling in
the x direction in space is

with the same form applying to the magnetic field wave

in a plane perpendicular the electric field. Both the
electric field and the magnetic field are perpendicular to
the direction of travel x. The symbol c represents the
speed of light or other electromagnetic waves.
The wave equation for electromagnetic waves arises from
Maxwell's equations. The form of a plane wave solution for
the electric field is

and that for the magnetic field

To be consistent with Maxwell's equations, these solutions

must be related by

The magnetic field B is perpendicular to the electric field E

in the orientation where the vector product E x B is in the
direction of the propagation of the wave.