Do non-metal elements emit photoelectrons?

Yes, but they have higher binding energies. You have to use UV light or X-rays to dislodge the electrons. This is the basis of the technique called *photoelectron spectroscopy*.

what is the difference between ionization energy and the work function of a metal?

work function refers to the energy required to remove the electron from the sea of electrons in a metal body whereas ionization energy refers to the energy required to eject the electron when it is present in the valence shell of the atom. hope it explains the difference.

We know that the photon is mass-less, so what is it's structure, how does it carry energy, where does it store it? Or is the mass of the photon negligible not zero??

well I technically we cant treat light the same way we treat matter because daily things travel very slowly but when you are travelling at speeds beyond 10^6 ms^-1 the science is different matter and energy are interconvertible (e=mc^2) so it doesn't really store energy it is energy itself.

Is intensity the same as brightness? Does it just refer to how much light there is? Also, I get that if there is more light shining on a metal, the current will increase. However, why does the current not increase when the kinetic energy increases? If the particles are moving faster, wouldn't that speed up the current? Finally, I don't really understand amplitude. Amplitude is the height of a wave's peak compared to its resting position. So wouldn't high amplitude mean there is a lower frequency and therefore lower energy?

Yes, intensity is the same as brightness. The only way to increase the kinetic energy of the electrons is to increase the frequency. If the frequency remains constant. the kinetic energy is also constant. The amplitude of a wave does not affect its frequency. Two waves of different amplitude can have the same frequency.

During the photoelectric effect, light knocks electrons out of metals. So why don't the metals in our home lose their electrons when we turn on the lights? Thanks in advance.

The metals in the home have too high a work function for the light to be able to knock out the electrons.

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding the wave/particle duality. Is a photon a wave-like particle? When I think of the equation E=hv, I think about frequency in terms of a wave, but I think of the E in terms of a particle-like atom, so it is a bit hard for me to reconcile the two and understand why high frequency of the wave would mean that the photon has a higher kinetic energy.

A photon is a particle of light. All very small particles sometimes act more like what we think of as waves. By experiment, we know that the energy of the photon is given by E = hf.

What will happen if the energy of the photon is just equal to the work function of the metal? will the electron be pulled back in the orbit of the atom?

The electron will be "free" from the atom but will feel a pull because of the positive charge of the atom and likely will get pulled back into the atom.

How is amplitude proportional to the number of photons with the same frequency?

The intensity of the light is a result of the number of photons. If the light were a wave, the intensity would be represented by the amplitude of the wave.

Is the quantum realm a real place or is it just a myth in ant man?

I mean, the quantum realm is a fictional place in the MCU. It’s little more than magic portals made to sound more serious and scientific by adding quantum. In the real world quantum usually refers to quantum mechanics, or simply the workings of matter and energy at the very small, atomic level.

how can light have momentum if it has no mass

Light also has a wave nature which allows it to have momentum

Main content

Photoelectric effect

Google Classroom

Explaining the experiments on the photoelectric effect. How these experiments led to the idea of light behaving as a particle of energy called a photon.

Key points

Based on the wave model of light, physicists predicted that increasing light amplitude would increase the kinetic energy of emitted photoelectrons, while increasing the frequency would increase measured current.
Contrary to the predictions, experiments showed that increasing the light frequency increased the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons, and increasing the light amplitude increased the current.
Based on these findings, Einstein proposed that light behaved like a stream of particles called photons with an energy of $E = h ν$ ‍.
The work function, $Φ$ ‍, is the minimum amount of energy required to induce photoemission of electrons from a metal surface, and the value of $Φ$ ‍ depends on the metal.
The energy of the incident photon must be equal to the sum of the metal's work function and the photoelectron kinetic energy: $E_{photon} = {KE}_{electron} + Φ$ ‍

Introduction: What is the photoelectric effect?

When light shines on a metal, electrons can be ejected from the surface of the metal in a phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect. This process is also often referred to as photoemission, and the electrons that are ejected from the metal are called photoelectrons. In terms of their behavior and their properties, photoelectrons are no different from other electrons. The prefix, photo-, simply tells us that the electrons have been ejected from a metal surface by incident light.

[Who discovered the photoelectric effect?]

In this article, we will discuss how 19th century physicists attempted (but failed!) to explain the photoelectric effect using classical physics. This ultimately led to the development of the modern description of electromagnetic radiation, which has both wave-like and particle-like properties.

Predictions based on light as a wave

To explain the photoelectric effect, 19th-century physicists theorized that the oscillating electric field of the incoming light wave was heating the electrons and causing them to vibrate, eventually freeing them from the metal surface. This hypothesis was based on the assumption that light traveled purely as a wave through space. (See this article for more information about the basic properties of light.) Scientists also believed that the energy of the light wave was proportional to its brightness, which is related to the wave's amplitude. In order to test their hypotheses, they performed experiments to look at the effect of light amplitude and frequency on the rate of electron ejection, as well as the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons.

Based on the classical description of light as a wave, they made the following predictions:

The kinetic energy of emitted photoelectrons should increase with the light amplitude.
The rate of electron emission, which is proportional to the measured electric current, should increase as the light frequency is increased.

To help us understand why they made these predictions, we can compare a light wave to a water wave. Imagine some beach balls sitting on a dock that extends out into the ocean. The dock represents a metal surface, the beach balls represent electrons, and the ocean waves represent light waves.

If a single large wave were to shake the dock, we would expect the energy from the big wave would send the beach balls flying off the dock with much more kinetic energy compared to a single, small wave. This is also what physicists believed would happen if the light intensity was increased. Light amplitude was expected to be proportional to the light energy, so higher amplitude light was predicted to result in photoelectrons with more kinetic energy.

Classical physicists also predicted that increasing the frequency of light waves (at a constant amplitude) would increase the rate of electrons being ejected, and thus increase the measured electric current. Using our beach ball analogy, we would expect waves hitting the dock more frequently would result in more beach balls being knocked off the dock compared to the same sized waves hitting the dock less often.

Now that we know what physicists thought would happen, let's look at what they actually observed experimentally!

When intuition fails: photons to the rescue!

When experiments were performed to look at the effect of light amplitude and frequency, the following results were observed:

The kinetic energy of photoelectrons increases with light frequency.
Electric current remains constant as light frequency increases.
Electric current increases with light amplitude.
The kinetic energy of photoelectrons remains constant as light amplitude increases.

These results were completely at odds with the predictions based on the classical description of light as a wave! In order to explain what was happening, it turned out that an entirely new model of light was needed. That model was developed by Albert Einstein, who proposed that light sometimes behaved as particles of electromagnetic energy which we now call photons. The energy of a photon could be calculated using Planck's equation:

E_{photon} = h ν

where

E_{photon}

is the energy of a photon in joules (

J

h

is Planck's constant

(6.626 \times 10^{- 34} J \cdot s)

, and

ν

is the frequency of the light in

Hz

. According to Planck's equation, the energy of a photon is proportional to the frequency of the light,

ν

. The amplitude of the light is then proportional to the number of photons with a given frequency.

Concept check: As the wavelength of a photon increases, what happens to the photon's energy?

[Show the answer]

Light frequency and the threshold frequency $ν_{0}$ ‍

We can think of the incident light as a stream of photons with an energy determined by the light frequency. When a photon hits the metal surface, the photon's energy is absorbed by an electron in the metal. The graphic below illustrates the relationship between light frequency and the kinetic energy of ejected electrons.

The scientists observed that if the incident light had a frequency less than a minimum frequency

ν_{0}

, then no electrons were ejected regardless of the light amplitude. This minimum frequency is also called the threshold frequency, and the value of

ν_{0}

depends on the metal. For frequencies greater than

ν_{0}

, electrons would be ejected from the metal. Furthermore, the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons was proportional to the light frequency. The relationship between photoelectron kinetic energy and light frequency is shown in graph (a) below.

Because the light amplitude was kept constant as the light frequency increased, the number of photons being absorbed by the metal remained constant. Thus, the rate at which electrons were ejected from the metal (or the electric current) remained constant as well. The relationship between electron current and light frequency is illustrated in graph (b) above.

Isn't there more math somewhere?

We can analyze the frequency relationship using the law of conservation of energy. The total energy of the incoming photon,

E_{photon}

, must be equal to the kinetic energy of the ejected electron,

{KE}_{electron}

, plus the energy required to eject the electron from the metal. The energy required to free the electron from a particular metal is also called the metal's work function, which is represented by the symbol

Φ

(in units of

J

E_{photon} = {KE}_{electron} + Φ

Like the threshold frequency

ν_{0}

, the value of

Φ

also changes depending on the metal. We can now write the energy of the photon in terms of the light frequency using Planck's equation:

E_{photon} = h ν = {KE}_{electron} + Φ

Rearranging this equation in terms of the electron's kinetic energy, we get:

{KE}_{electron} = h ν - Φ

We can see that kinetic energy of the photoelectron increases linearly with

ν

as long as the photon energy is greater than the work function

Φ

, which is exactly the relationship shown in graph (a) above. We can also use this equation to find the photoelectron velocity

v

, which is related to

{KE}_{electron}

as follows:

{KE}_{electron} = h ν - Φ = \frac{1}{2} m_{e} v^{2}

where

m_{e}

is the rest mass of an electron,

9.1094 \times 10^{- 31} kg

Exploring the wave amplitude trends

In terms of photons, higher amplitude light means more photons hitting the metal surface. This results in more electrons ejected over a given time period. As long as the light frequency is greater than

ν_{0}

, increasing the light amplitude will cause the electron current to increase proportionally as shown in graph (a) below.

Since increasing the light amplitude has no effect on the energy of the incoming photon, the photoelectron kinetic energy remains constant as the light amplitude is increased (see graph (b) above).

If we try to explain this result using our dock-and-beach-balls analogy, the relationship in graph (b) indicates that no matter the height of the wave hitting the dock

-

whether it's a tiny swell, or a huge tsunami

-

the individual beach balls would be launched off the dock with the exact same speed! Thus, our intuition and analogy don't do a very good job of explaining these particular experiments.

Example $1$ ‍: The photoelectric effect for copper

The work function of copper metal is

Φ = 7.53 \times 10^{- 19} J

. If we shine light with a frequency of

3.0 \times 10^{16} Hz

on copper metal, will the photoelectric effect be observed?

In order to eject electrons, we need the energy of the photons to be greater than the work function of copper. We can use Planck's equation to calculate the energy of the photon,

E_{photon}

\begin{aligned} E_{photon} & = h ν \\ = (6.626 \times 10^{- 34} J \cdot s) (3.0 \times 10^{16} Hz) plug in values for h and ν \\ = 2.0 \times 10^{- 17} J \end{aligned}

If we compare our calculated photon energy,

E_{photon}

, to copper's work function, we see that the photon energy is greater than

Φ

2.0 \times 10^{- 17} J > 7.53 \times 10^{- 19} J

E_{photon} Φ

Thus, we would expect to see photoelectrons ejected from the copper. Next, we will calculate the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons.

Example $2$ ‍: Calculating the kinetic energy of a photoelectron

What is the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons ejected from the copper by the light with a frequency of

3.0 \times 10^{16} Hz

We can calculate the kinetic energy of the photoelectron using the equation that relates

{KE}_{electron}

to the energy of the photon,

E_{photon}

, and the work function,

Φ

E_{photon} = {KE}_{electron} + Φ

Since we want to know

{KE}_{electron}

, we can start by rearranging the equation so that we will be solving for the kinetic energy of the electron:

{KE}_{electron} = E_{photon} - Φ

Now we can insert our known values for

E_{photon}

and

Φ

from Example 1:

{KE}_{electron} = (2.0 \times 10^{- 17} J) - (7.53 \times 10^{- 19} J) = 1.9 \times 10^{- 17} J

Therefore, each photoelectron has a kinetic energy of

1.9 \times 10^{- 17} J

Summary

Based on the wave model of light, physicists predicted that increasing light amplitude would increase the kinetic energy of emitted photoelectrons, while increasing the frequency would increase measured current.
Experiments showed that increasing the light frequency increased the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons, and increasing the light amplitude increased the current.
Based on these findings, Einstein proposed that light behaved like a stream of photons with an energy of $E = h ν$ ‍.
The work function, $Φ$ ‍, is the minimum amount of energy required to induce photoemission of electrons from a specific metal surface.
The energy of the incident photon must be equal to the sum of the work function and the kinetic energy of a photoelectron: $E_{photon} = {KE}_{electron} + Φ$ ‍

[Attributions and references]

Try it!

When we shine light with a frequency of

6.20 \times 10^{14} Hz

on a mystery metal, we observe the ejected electrons have a kinetic energy of

3.28 \times 10^{- 20} J

. Some possible candidates for the mystery metal are shown in the table below:

Metal	Work function $Φ$ ‍ (Joules, $J$ ‍)
Calcium, $Ca$ ‍	$4.60 \times 10^{- 19}$ ‍
Tin, $Sn$ ‍	$7.08 \times 10^{- 19}$ ‍
Sodium, $Na$ ‍	$3.78 \times 10^{- 19}$ ‍
Hafnium, $Hf$ ‍	$6.25 \times 10^{- 19}$ ‍
Samarium, $Sm$ ‍	$4.33 \times 10^{- 19}$ ‍

Based on this information, what is the most likely identity of our mystery metal?

[Hint 1]

[Hint 2]

[Hint 3]

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khjhzw
Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to khjhzw's post “Do non-metal elements emi...”
Do non-metal elements emit photoelectrons?
Button navigates to signup pageButton navigates to signup page
(73 votes)
Answer
- Ernest Zinck
  Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to Ernest Zinck's post “Yes, but they have higher...”
  Yes, but they have higher binding energies.
  You have to use UV light or X-rays to dislodge the electrons.
  This is the basis of the technique called photoelectron spectroscopy.
  Comment on Ernest Zinck's post “Yes, but they have higher...”
  (94 votes)
Manraj Bevli
Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to Manraj Bevli's post “what is the difference be...”
what is the difference between ionization energy and the work function of a metal?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Manraj Bevli's post “what is the difference be...”
(73 votes)
Answer
- KEVIN
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to KEVIN's post “work function refers to t...”
  work function refers to the energy required to remove the electron from the sea of electrons in a metal body whereas ionization energy refers to the energy required to eject the electron when it is present in the valence shell of the atom.
  hope it explains the difference.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (10 votes)
Harjyot Singh Bagga
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Harjyot Singh Bagga's post “We know that the photon i...”
We know that the photon is mass-less, so what is it's structure, how does it carry energy, where does it store it?
Or is the mass of the photon negligible not zero??
Button navigates to signup pageButton navigates to signup page
(30 votes)
Answer
- Krishanu Saha
  Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to Krishanu Saha's post “well I technically we can...”
  well I technically we cant treat light the same way we treat matter because daily things travel very slowly but when you are travelling at speeds beyond 10^6 ms^-1 the science is different matter and energy are interconvertible (e=mc^2) so it doesn't really store energy it is energy itself.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (10 votes)
elllc
Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to elllc's post “Is intensity the same as ...”
Is intensity the same as brightness? Does it just refer to how much light there is? Also, I get that if there is more light shining on a metal, the current will increase. However, why does the current not increase when the kinetic energy increases? If the particles are moving faster, wouldn't that speed up the current?

Finally, I don't really understand amplitude. Amplitude is the height of a wave's peak compared to its resting position. So wouldn't high amplitude mean there is a lower frequency and therefore lower energy?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on elllc's post “Is intensity the same as ...”
(16 votes)
Answer
- Ernest Zinck
  Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to Ernest Zinck's post “Yes, intensity is the sam...”
  Yes, intensity is the same as brightness.
  The only way to increase the kinetic energy of the electrons is to increase the frequency. If the frequency remains constant. the kinetic energy is also constant.
  The amplitude of a wave does not affect its frequency. Two waves of different amplitude can have the same frequency.
  Comment on Ernest Zinck's post “Yes, intensity is the sam...”
  (21 votes)
Praful
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Praful's post “During the photoelectric ...”
During the photoelectric effect, light knocks electrons out of metals. So why don't the metals in our home lose their electrons when we turn on the lights?
Thanks in advance.
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Praful's post “During the photoelectric ...”
(8 votes)
Answer
- Ernest Zinck
  Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Ernest Zinck's post “The metals in the home ha...”
  The metals in the home have too high a work function for the light to be able to knock out the electrons.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (18 votes)
elllc
Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to elllc's post “I'm having a bit of troub...”
I'm having a bit of trouble understanding the wave/particle duality. Is a photon a wave-like particle? When I think of the equation E=hv, I think about frequency in terms of a wave, but I think of the E in terms of a particle-like atom, so it is a bit hard for me to reconcile the two and understand why high frequency of the wave would mean that the photon has a higher kinetic energy.
Button navigates to signup pageComment on elllc's post “I'm having a bit of troub...”
(8 votes)
Answer
- Andrew M
  Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to Andrew M's post “A photon is a particle of...”
  A photon is a particle of light. All very small particles sometimes act more like what we think of as waves. By experiment, we know that the energy of the photon is given by E = hf.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (5 votes)
raghuwanshiparth
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to raghuwanshiparth's post “What will happen if the e...”
What will happen if the energy of the photon is just equal to the work function of the metal? will the electron be pulled back in the orbit of the atom?
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(5 votes)
Answer
- Charles LaCour
  Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Charles LaCour's post “The electron will be "fre...”
  The electron will be "free" from the atom but will feel a pull because of the positive charge of the atom and likely will get pulled back into the atom.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (12 votes)
Deya Chatterjee
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Deya Chatterjee's post “How is amplitude proporti...”
How is amplitude proportional to the number of photons with the same frequency?
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(5 votes)
Answer
- Andrew M
  Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Andrew M's post “The intensity of the ligh...”
  The intensity of the light is a result of the number of photons.
  If the light were a wave, the intensity would be represented by the amplitude of the wave.
  Comment on Andrew M's post “The intensity of the ligh...”
  (3 votes)
Aiden
Posted 8 months ago. Direct link to Aiden's post “Is the quantum realm a re...”
Is the quantum realm a real place or is it just a myth in ant man?
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(4 votes)
Answer
- Richard
  Posted 8 months ago. Direct link to Richard's post “I mean, the quantum realm...”
  I mean, the quantum realm is a fictional place in the MCU. It’s little more than magic portals made to sound more serious and scientific by adding quantum.
  
  In the real world quantum usually refers to quantum mechanics, or simply the workings of matter and energy at the very small, atomic level.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (5 votes)
52s.hmiah
Posted 6 months ago. Direct link to 52s.hmiah's post “how can light have moment...”
how can light have momentum if it has no mass
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(4 votes)
Answer
- vatsalyavashisth
  Posted 6 months ago. Direct link to vatsalyavashisth's post “Light also has a wave nat...”
  Light also has a wave nature which allows it to have momentum
  Button navigates to signup page
  (2 votes)

Chemistry library

Course: Chemistry library > Unit 7

Photoelectric effect

Key points

Introduction: What is the photoelectric effect?

Predictions based on light as a wave

When intuition fails: photons to the rescue!

Light frequency and the threshold frequency $ν_{0}$ ‍

Isn't there more math somewhere?

Exploring the wave amplitude trends

Example $1$ ‍: The photoelectric effect for copper

Example $2$ ‍: Calculating the kinetic energy of a photoelectron

Summary

Try it!

Want to join the conversation?

Chemistry library

Course: Chemistry library > Unit 7

Key points

Introduction: What is the photoelectric effect?

Predictions based on light as a wave

When intuition fails: photons to the rescue!

Light frequency and the threshold frequency ν0‍

Isn't there more math somewhere?

Exploring the wave amplitude trends

Example 1‍ : The photoelectric effect for copper

Example 2‍ : Calculating the kinetic energy of a photoelectron

Summary

Try it!

Want to join the conversation?

Light frequency and the threshold frequency $ν_{0}$ ‍

Example $1$ ‍: The photoelectric effect for copper

Example $2$ ‍: Calculating the kinetic energy of a photoelectron