The Photoelectric Effect
Claimed by Joe Baldino 4/16/2022 Short Description of Topic
The Main Idea
The photoelectric effect is the phenomena in which electrons are emitted from a material that is bombarded by electromagnetic radiation. First observed in the 19th century, the effect was confounding to scientists because of its violation of classical electromagnetism. These discrepancies ultimately led to Albert Einstein making groundbreaking proposals about the nature of light.
History
German physicist Heinrich Hertz is credited with the discovery of the photoelectric effect in 1887 when he observed a changing of sparking voltage between electrodes when ultraviolet light is shined on them[1]. The effect was subsequently studied by various other notable physicists, including Aleksandr Stoletov and J.J. Thomson. Most significant of this period, however, were the studies undertaken by Philipp Lenard. Lenard extensively worked on researching the photoelectric effect and determined that the velocity at which electrons are emitted from a material is independent of the frequency of the light[2]. This was one of the
Mechanism
A Mathematical Model
What are the mathematical equations that allow us to model this topic. For example [math]\displaystyle{ {\frac{d\vec{p}}{dt}}_{system} = \vec{F}_{net} }[/math] where p is the momentum of the system and F is the net force from the surroundings.
Significance
Connectedness
- How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in?
- How is it connected to your major?
- Is there an interesting industrial application?
See also
Are there related topics or categories in this wiki resource for the curious reader to explore? How does this topic fit into that context?
Further reading
Books, Articles or other print media on this topic
External links
Internet resources on this topic
References
This section contains the the references you used while writing this page