Einstein and the photoelectric effect | Additional Documents & Tests for IIT JAM PDF Download

In 1905 Einstein extended Planck’s hypothesis to explain the photoelectric effect, which is the emission of electrons by a metal surface when it is irradiated by light or more-energetic photons. The kinetic energy of the emitted electrons depends on the frequency ν of the radiation, not on its intensity; for a given metal, there is a threshold frequency ν₀ below which no electrons are emitted. Furthermore, emission takes place as soon as the light shines on the surface; there is no detectable delay. Einstein showed that these results can be explained by two assumptions: (1) that light is composed of corpuscles or photons, the energy of which is given by Planck’s relationship, and (2) that an atom in the metal can absorb either a whole photon or nothing. Part of the energy of the absorbed photon frees an electron, which requires a fixed energy W, known as the work function of the metal; the rest is converted into the kinetic energy m_eu²/2 of the emitted electron (m_e is the mass of the electron and u is its velocity). Thus, the energy relation is

If ν is less than ν₀, where hν₀ = W, no electrons are emitted. Not all the experimental results mentioned above were known in 1905, but all Einstein’s predictions have been verified since.