Photoelectric Effect?

Question

What important implications did the photoelectric effect have for theories about the nature of light?

Answer 1

The photoelectric effect helped further wave-particle duality, whereby physical systems (such as photons, in this case) display both wave-like and particle-like properties and behaviours, a concept that was used by the creators of quantum mechanics. The photoelectric effect was explained mathematically by Albert Einstein, who extended the work on quanta developed by Max Planck.

Answer 2

The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from matter upon the absorption of electromagnetic radiation, such as ultraviolet radiation or x-rays. An older term for the photoelectric effect was the Hertz effect, though this phrase has fallen out of current use.
Upon exposing a metallic surface to electromagnetic radiation that is above the threshold frequency (which is specific to the type of surface and material), the photons are absorbed and current is produced. No electrons are emitted for radiation with a frequency below that of the threshold, as the electrons are unable to gain sufficient energy to overcome the electrostatic barrier presented by the termination of the crystalline surface (the material's work function). In 1905 it was known that the energy of the photoelectrons increased with increasing frequency of incident light, but the manner of the increase was not experimentally determined to be linear until 1915 when Robert Andrews Millikan showed that Einstein was correct [3].

By conservation of energy, the energy of the photon is absorbed by the electron and, if sufficient, the electron can escape from the material with a finite kinetic energy. A single photon can only eject a single electron, as the energy of one photon may only be absorbed by one electron. The electrons that are emitted are often termed photoelectrons.

The photoelectric effect helped further wave-particle duality, whereby physical systems (such as photons, in this case) display both wave-like and particle-like properties and behaviours, a concept that was used by the creators of quantum mechanics. The photoelectric effect was explained mathematically by Albert Einstein, who extended the work on quanta developed by Max Planck.
The photons of the light beam have a characteristic energy given by the wavelength of the light. In the photoemission process, if an electron absorbs the energy of one photon and has more energy than the work function, it is ejected from the material. If the photon energy is too low, however, the electron is unable to escape the surface of the material. Increasing the intensity of the light beam does not change the energy of the constituent photons, only their number, and thus the energy of the emitted electrons does not depend on the intensity of the incoming light.

Electrons can absorb energy from photons when irradiated, but they follow an "all or nothing" principle. All of the energy from one photon must be absorbed and used to liberate one electron from atomic binding, or the energy is re-emitted. If the photon is absorbed, some of the energy is used to liberate it from the atom, and the rest contributes to the electron's kinetic (moving) energy as a free particle.

Answer 3

after all we know about light (minus the photoelectric effect), just about all of the data compiled points to light being a wave and a wave only. however, the photoelectric effect began to show how light was also a particle. this was one of the first steps toward the current wave-particle duality theory we currently use to describe light.

Answer 4

PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT SHOWED THE PARTICLE NATURE OF LIGHT i.e, LIGHT CONSISTS OF TINY PACKETS OF PARTICLES CALLED PHOTONS.

Answer 5

This was what won Einstein the Nobel Prize, not relativity.