Quantum Physics Flashcards
What is a photon?
A discreet packet of energy of an electromagnetic radiation with energy hf, where h = Planck’s constant and f is the frequency of EM radiation
What is photoelectric effect?
Release of electron from a surface due to incident photon with frequency at least equal or greater than threshold frequency
What is photocurrent?
rate of electron arriving at collector
What is work function, Φ?
minimum photon energy required to remove an electron from a surface
What is threshold frequency?
minimum frequency of photon for electron to be emitted from a surface
What is threshold wavelength, λₒ?
maximum wavelength of EM radiation incident on a surface for photoelectric effect to take place
just think opposite of fₒ
When is saturated current achieved?
When all emitted electrons are collected
electrons are scattered randomly in all directions
What happens to the electrons emitted at low pd and high pd?
- at low pd: some electrons may not be attracted by collector
- at high pd: path of electrons will be altered so that more electrons could be attracted
What happens to the electrons emitted when there’s negative pd?
- liberated electrons experiences opposing electric force
- energetic electrons could still reach the collector while slower ones may not
When does stopping potential, Vs occur?
when no electrons could reach the collector
Why is there a slope for current-pd graph?
photoelectrons liberated possess varying kinetic energy
Why do photoelectrons have a range of kinetic energy in photoelectric effect?
- energy of each photon is fixed
- KE is varying because varying energy is required by inner electrons to reach its surface
- max KE equals to photon energy minus work function energy, only surface electrons emerge with max KE
What is the effect on photocurrent when intensity of radiation changes?
- higher intensity of radiation means more photons incident on the emitter per unit area per unit time
- more photoelectrons will be emitted per unit area per unit time, which gives rise to larger photocurrent
What is the effect on saturation current when intensity of radiation changes?
- When the intensity of radiation increases, more photons is incident on the emitter per unit time
- more photoelectrons will be emitted per unit time, resulting in larger photocurrent
What is the effect of changing the intensity of radiation on KEmax and Vs?
- the energy of individual photon remains the same since frequency is unchanged
- no effect on KEmax and Vs as the same amount of work has to be done on photoelectrons to stop them from reaching the collector
What is the effect on Vs and KEmax when frequency of radiation changes?
- When frequency of radiation increases, the energy of individual photons increases
- emitted photoelectrons have greater KE, hence a larger pd is required to stop then from reacher the collector
How does photoelectric effect show the particulate nature of EM radiation?
- only radiation above certain minimum threshold frequency
- rate of emission of electrons is proportional to intensity
- max KE of electrons emitted is dependent only on frequency and independent of intensity
- no observable time lag
Why does the wave theory not explain photoelectric effect?
- By wave theory, any frequency would give rise to emission of electrons, if intensity is sufficiently high but in reality electrons will only be liberated if light above of a certain threshold frequency is used, regardless of intensity
- electrons will take time to absorb light energy before it is removed from a surface, in reality, instantaneous emissions were observed
- if intensity increases indefinitely, KE of emitted electrons increases indefinitely too since intensity is proportional to energy but in reality, there is a limiting maximum KE of electrons emitted