Photoelectric effect

The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a usually metallic surface upon exposure to, and absorption of, electromagnetic radiation, such as visible light or ultraviolet radiation. An older term for the photoelectric effect was the Hertz effect, though this phrase has fallen out of current use.http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/HertzEffect.html

History

Early observations

In 1839, Alexandre Edmond Becquerel observed the photoelectric effect via an electrode in a conductive solution exposed to light. In 1873, Willoughby Smith found that selenium is photoconductive.

Related Topics:
1839 - Alexandre Edmond Becquerel - 1873 - Willoughby Smith - Selenium

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Hertz's spark gaps

Heinrich Hertz, in 1887, made observations of the photoelectric effect and of the production and reception of electromagnetic (EM) waves, published in the journal Annalen der Physik. His receiver consisted of a coil with a spark gap, whereupon a spark would be seen upon detection of EM waves. He placed the apparatus in a darkened box in order to see the spark better; he observed, however, that the maximum spark length was reduced when in the box. A glass panel placed between the source of EM waves and the receiver absorbed ultraviolet radiation that assisted the electrons in jumping across the gap. When removed, the spark length would increase. He observed no decrease in spark length when he substituted quartz for glass, as quartz does not absorb UV radiation.

Related Topics:
Heinrich Hertz - 1887 - Annalen der Physik - Spark gap - Quartz

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Hertz concluded his months of investigation and reported the results obtained. He did not further pursue investigation of this effect, nor did he make any attempt at explaining how the observed phenomenon was brought about.

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JJ Thomson: electrons

In 1899, Joseph John Thomson investigated ultraviolet light in Crookes tubes. Influenced by the work of James Clerk Maxwell, Thomson deduced that cathode rays consisted of negatively charged particles, later called electrons, which he called "corpuscles". In the research, Thomson enclosed a metal plate (a cathode) in a vacuum tube, and exposed it to high frequency radiation. It was thought that the oscillating electromagnetic fields caused the atoms' field to resonate and, after reaching a certain amplitude, caused a subatomic "corpuscle" to be emitted, and current to be detected. The current and speed of this current varied with the intensity and color of the radiation. Larger increments of the radiation intensity or frequency of the field would produce more current.

Related Topics:
1899 - Joseph John Thomson - Ultraviolet light - Crookes tube - James Clerk Maxwell

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Tesla's radiant energy

In 1901 on November 5, Nikola Tesla received the {{US patent|685957}} (Apparatus for the Utilization of Radiant Energy) that describes radiation charging and discharging conductors by "radiant energy". Tesla used this effect to charge a capacitor with energy by means of a conductive plate. The patent specified that the radiation include many different forms.

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1901 - November 5 - Nikola Tesla - Radiant energy

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Von Lenard's observations

In 1902, Philipp von Lenard observed http://www.phys.virginia.edu/classes/252/photoelectric_effect.html the variation in electron energy with light frequency. He used a powerful electric arc lamp which enabled him to investigate large changes in intensity, and had sufficient power to enable him to investigate the variation of potential with light frequency. His experiment directly measured potentials, not electron kinetic energy: he found the electron energy by relating it to the maximum stopping potential (voltage) in a phototube. He found that the calculated maximum electron kinetic energy is determined by the frequency of the light. For example, an increase in frequency results in an increase in the maximum kinetic energy calculated for an electron upon liberation - ultraviolet radiation would require a higher applied stopping potential to stop current in a phototube than blue light. However Lenard's results were qualitative rather than quantitative because of the difficulty in performing the experiments: the experiments needed to be done on freshly cut metal so that the pure metal was observed, but it oxidised in tens of minutes even in the partial vacuums he used. The current emitted by the surface was determined by the light's intensity, or brightness: doubling the intensity of the light doubled the number of electrons emitted from the surface. Lenard did not know of photons.

Related Topics:
1902 - Philipp von Lenard - Kinetic energy - Ultraviolet radiation

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Einstein: light quanta

Albert Einstein's mathematical description in 1905 of how it was caused by absorption of what were later called photons, or quanta of light, in the interaction of light with the electrons in the substance, was contained in the paper named "On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light". This paper proposed the simple description of "light quanta" (later called "photons") and showed how they could be used to explain such phenomena as the photoelectric effect. The simple explanation by Einstein in terms of absorption of single quanta of light explained the features of the phenomenon and helped explain the characteristic frequency. Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect won him the Nobel Prize of 1921.

Related Topics:
Albert Einstein - 1905 - Photon - Quanta - Electron - Quanta - Nobel Prize - 1921

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The idea of light quanta was motivated by Max Planck's published law of black-body radiation ("On the Law of Distribution of Energy in the Normal Spectrum". Annalen der Physik 4 (1901)) by assuming that Hertzian oscillators could only exist at energies E proportional to the frequency f of the oscillator by E = hf, where h is Planck's constant. Einstein, by assuming that light actually consisted of discrete energy packets, wrote an equation for the photoelectric effect that fit experiments. This was an enormous theoretical leap and the reality of the light quanta was strongly resisted. The idea of light quanta contradicted the wave theory of light that followed naturally from James Clerk Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic behavior and, more generally, the assumption of infinite divisibility of energy in physical systems. Even after experiments showed that Einstein's equations for the photoelectric effect were accurate there was resistance to the idea of photons, since it appeared to contradict Maxwell's equations, which were believed to be well understood and well verified.

Related Topics:
Max Planck - Black-body radiation - James Clerk Maxwell - Infinite divisibility

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Einstein's work predicted that the energy of the ejected electrons would increase linearly with the frequency of the light. Perhaps surprisingly, that had not yet been tested. 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 http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys314/lectures/photoe/photoe.html.

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Effect on wave-particle question

The photoelectric effect helped propel the then-emerging concept of the dual nature of light, that light exhibits characteristics of waves and particles at different times. The effect was impossible to understand in terms of the classical wave description of light, as the energy of the emitted electrons did not depend on the intensity of the incident radiation. Classical theory predicted that the electrons could 'gather up' energy over a period of time, and then be emitted. For such a classical theory to work a pre-loaded state would need to persist in matter. The idea of the pre-loaded state was discussed in Millikan's book Electrons (+ & -) and in Compton and Allison's book X-Rays in Theory and Experiment. These ideas were abandoned.

Related Topics:
Light - Wave

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