AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Engineering
Engineering Physics & Mathematics
Department
Modern Physics & Quantum Prof. Wael Fikry
Mechanics Dr. Michael Gad
Problem Set 2
The photoelectric effect and Compton effect
Constants in SI units: Electron charge (e) = 1.6×10-19, Electron rest mass (mo) = 9.1×10-31,
Speed of light = 3×108, Planck’s constant (h) = 6.62×10-34
Part I: Choose the correct answers in each of the following
1- Classical physics expects that an electron is emitted from a metal when irradiated by light:
a) Whatever the intensity of light is.
b) Whatever the frequency of light is.
c) After a delay time that depends on the intensity of the incident light.
d) After a delay time that depends on the frequency of the incident light.
2- Modern physics expects that an electron is emitted from a metal when irradiated by light:
a) Only when the frequency of light is larger than the threshold frequency.
b) Only when the frequency of light is smaller than the threshold frequency.
c) Only when the intensity of light is larger than the threshold intensity.
d) Only when the intensity of light is smaller than the threshold intensity.
3- The kinetic energy of the fastest photoelectron:
a) Depends on the frequency of the incident light.
b) Depends on the intensity of the incident light.
c) Depends on the work function of the metal.
d) Depends on the speed of the incident light.
4- The maximum energy transfer from a photon to an electron in X-rays scattering occurs when:
a) The scattering angle of the photon is 180
b) The recoil angle of the electron is 180
c) The scattering angle of the photon is 0
d) The recoil angle of the electron is 0
e) The scattering angle of the photon is 90
f) The recoil angle of the electron is 90
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT AND COMPTON EFFECT. 1/5
Questions 5-7 are related to Fig. 1, which represents the I
variation of the current of a photocell circuit versus the
applied voltage.
d
5- Point () on the vertical axis represents: Curve 3
a
a) The threshold frequency. Curve 2
Curve 1
b) The work function of the metal. b
c) The stopping potential. c
d) The saturation current.
e) The maximum kinetic energy of the photo-electron. k m n V
Fig. 1
6- Point () on the vertical axis represents:
a) The saturation current for Curve 1.
b) The saturation voltage for Curve 1.
c) The inverse of the resistance of the photocell.
d) The resistance of the photocell.
e) The current a photocell gives with zero potential difference between the anode and the cathode.
7- Points (, , ) on the horizontal axis indicate that:
a) The absolute value of the stopping potential is larger for Curve 1 than for Curve 3.
b) The kinetic energy of the fastest photo-electron is larger for Curve 2 than for Curve 3.
c) The threshold frequency of Curve 2 is smaller than that of Curve 1.
d) The threshold wavelength of Curve 2 is smaller than that of Curve 1.
e) The work function for Curve 2 is greater than that for Curve 3.
f) The experiment is conducted using light of constant intensity but different frequencies.
g) The experiment is conducted using light of constant frequency but different intensities.
Questions 8-10 are related to Fig. 2, which represents the
variation of the current of a photocell circuit versus the applied I
Curve1
voltage.
Curve 2
8- Point () on the horizontal axis represents:
a) The threshold frequency. Curve 3
b) The work function of the metal.
c) The maximum kinetic energy of the photo-electron.
d) The stopping potential.
9- The three curves indicate that: a V
a) The measurements were conducted with light of the same Fig. 2
frequency.
b) The measurements were conducted with light of the same intensity.
c) The measurements were conducted with light of the different frequencies.
d) The measurements were conducted with light of the different intensities.
10- The saturation current of Curve 1 is the largest. This means that:
a) Photo-electrons with larger energy are emitted in the case of Curve 1 than in the other two cases.
b) A larger number of photo-electrons are emitted in the case of Curve 1 than in the other two cases.
c) The frequency used in the case of Curve 1 is larger than those used in the other two cases.
d) The work function of the metal depends on the intensity of the incident light.
e) The photocell is not functioning well.
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT AND COMPTON EFFECT. 2/5
Questions 11-14 are related to Fig. 3, which represents the
variation of the kinetic energy of an electron in the photocell K.E. Curve 1
circuit versus the frequency of the incident light. Curve 2
11- The points (, , ) on the vertical axis represent: Curve 3
a) Three different work functions.
b) Three different threshold frequencies.
c) Three different light intensities. d e f f
d) Three different stopping potentials. a
b
12- The points (d, , ) on the horizontal axis represent:
Fig. 3
a) Three different work functions. c
b) Three different threshold frequencies.
c) Three different light intensities.
d) Three different stopping potentials.
13- The slope of Curve 1:
a) Equals the slope of Curve 2.
b) Equals the slope of Curve 3.
c) Equals ℎ.
d) Equals ( h e )
e) Equals the work function of the cathode material.
14- On the vertical axis, if the (. .) is replaced by the stopping potential ( ), then :
a) The slope of Curve1 equals ( h e )
b) The y-intercept of Curve 2 equals ( − φ e )
c) The slope of Curve1 equals (ℎ).
d) The y-intercept of Curve 2 equals ().
e) The x-intercept of Curve 3 is the threshold frequency.
Part II: Problems
1- For a photocell, the stopping potential is
drawn versus the frequency as shown in Fig. 4.
Find the straight line of the best fit for the
measurement points and then find the work
function of the metal and the ratio of Planck’s
constant to the electron charge.
Fig. 4
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2- The photoelectric effect is studied on two different metals using the same light. It is found that the
potential required to make the current equal to zero in the first metal is 1.48 more than in the second
metal. It is also found that the minimum frequency required to detect a current in the first is 60% of
that in the second. Find the work function of the two metals.
3- A certain photocathode has a work function of 2.08 eV and a sensitivity of 12.5 mA/W, when the
incident light has a wavelength 546 nm. Calculate:
a) The threshold frequency and the threshold wavelength of the cathode.
b) The stopping potential required to reduce the photocurrent to zero.
c) The quantum yield.
4- A laser beam of intensity 2 W is completely absorbed as it strikes a target. Find the force exerted on
the target by the laser beam if its wavelength is λ = 623 nm.
5- An X-ray photon of wavelength ( = 5.6 × 10 !" ) is diffused by a free electron in copper. If the
kinetic energy of the electron after collision is 2 × 10% , calculate:
a) The wavelength of the scattered photon.
b) The angle of scattering.
c) The recoil angle of the electron.
6- A photon of wavelength λ is scattered by an electron at
point A, as shown in Fig. 5, producing a second photon
having wavelength λ'. This photon is then scattered again
by another electron at point B, producing a third photon
having wavelength λ''and moving in a direction directly
opposite to the original photon. Calculate λ''- λ.
7- An X-ray photon of energy 10& is scattered by a
copper atom, find the wavelength of the scattered photon. Fig. 5
8- If the angle of scattering of X-rays in Compton experiment is 90o, show that cot β = 1 + (hf /m0 c2),
where β is the recoil angle of the electron.
9- a) Show that the scattering angle of the photon (θ) and the recoil angle of the electron () in the
θ hf
Compton effect are related by the relation: cot = (1 + ) tan φ , where f is the frequency of
2 mo c 2
incident photon
[Hint: sin α = 2 sin (α/2) cos (α/2) & (1 – cos α) = 2 sin2 (α/2) ]
b) A photon whose energy equals the rest mass energy of the electron undergoes a Compton collision
with an electron. If the electron moves off at an angle of (40 ) with the original photon direction, what
is the energy of the scattered photon?
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT AND COMPTON EFFECT. 4/5
Part III: MATLAB exercise (Optional)
a) Write a Matlab code to plot one figure showing the stopping potential versus the frequency of
incident light for three different photocells of three different cathode metals. The three work functions
are ! = 1; " = 2 and ( = 3
b) A student conducted an experiment to find the stopping potential for a photocell as a function of the
wavelength of the incident light. He tabulated the results as following:
(nm) 400 450 500 550 600 650 700
(*+,) 2.2 1.6 1.5 1.3 1 0.9 0.7
Write a MATLAB code to show the measurement points and the line of best fit. In the figure though,
replace the wavelength by the frequency. Write the fitting coefficients on the title of the figure.
Also, find Planck’s constant, the threshold frequency and the work function for this photocell. Assume
that the electron charge is known (- = 1.6 × 10 !. /).
Note: a straight line that fits the (y-values) can be expressed as: 0 = 1 + and hence ( ) and ( ) are
called the fitting coefficients.
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