1.18.
Photoelectric Effect
Photoelectric effect is the process of emitting the electrons from the a metal surface when
the metal surface is exposed to an electromagnetic radiation of sufficiently high frequency.
For example, ultraviolet light is required in the case of example, ultraviolet light is required
in the case of ejection of electrons from an alkali metal.
Apparatus Description
• An evacuated tube has two electrodes connected to an external circuit.
• The metal plate whose surface is to be irradiated acts as the cathode, while the metal
plate that collects these electrons is the anode whose voltage V can be externally
controlled using battery source.
• A positive external voltage is used to direct the photo electrons onto the collector.
Ammeter measures the resulting photoelectric current
• If the frequency and the intensity of the incident radiation are fixed, the photoelectric
current increases with an increase in the positive voltage, as more and more electrons
are directed onto the electrode.
• When no additional photoelectrons can be collected, the photoelectric current attains
a saturation value. This current can only increase with the increase of the intensity
of light
• A negative voltage repels the electrons reaching anode resulting in reduced
photocurrent.
• Increasing negative voltage prevents all but the highest-energy electrons from
reaching the collector. When no current is observed through the tube, the negative
voltage has reached the value that is high enough to slow down and stop the most
energetic photoelectrons of kinetic energy Tmax. This value of the retarding voltage
is called the stopping potential or cut off potential Vo
• Since the work done by the retarding potential in stopping the electron of
charge e is eVo, the following must hold eVo = Tmax
Laws of Photoelectric Emission
• There is no time lag between the irradiation of the surface and the ejection of the
electrons.
• At a particular fixed frequency of incident radiation the rate of the emission of photo
electrons i.e. the photocurrent increases with increase in the intensity of the incident
light. increase in the intensity of the incident light.
• Photo electric effect does not occur at frequency less than threshold frequency.
• At the frequency above the threshold frequency, the kinetic energy of the ejected
electrons depends only on the frequency of the exposed radiation and not on its
intensity.
Explanation of Photoelectric Effect
i. The photoelectric effect cannot be explained on the basis of electromagnetic theory.
In 1905 Einstein proposed that the photoelectric effect could be understood through
the idea proposed by the German theoretical physicist Max Planck in 1900.
ii. Planck was seeking to explain the characteristics of the radiation emitted by hot
bodies. radiation emitted by hot bodies.
iii. Plank assumed that while the radiation is emitted continuously as little bursts of
energy called quanta but propagated continuously in space as electromagnetic
waves.
iv. Einstein proposed that light not only was emitted as quanta at a time but also
propagated as individual quanta, sufficiently small to be absorbed by the electron
v. Planck found that the quantity associated with a particular frequency ν of light all
had the same energy and that this energy was proportional to ν that is E = hν
vi. Photoelectric effect can be explained by the following equation
E(=hν) = hν0 + Tmax = ϕ0 + Tmax
Here E is the total energy of the photon incident on the metallic surface, ν is the frequency of
the incident radiation, ν0 is the threshold frequency of the metal and Tmax is the maximum
kinetic energy with which the electron moves after ejection from the surface, ϕ0 = hν0 is the
work function of metal.
1.19. Compton effect
According to the quantum theory of light, photons behave like particles except for their lack of
rest mass. For instance, we can consider a collision between a photon and an electron as if both
were billiard balls.
Compton effect or scattering is the photon interaction process where the photon incident on
matter is scattered by the electron by losing a part of its energy. The lost energy of photon is
gained by the electron as kinetic energy.
Theory of Compton Effect
If the initial photon has the frequency ν associated with it, the scattered photon has the lower
frequency 𝜈′. From the principle of conservation of energy, we may write
Loss in photon energy = gain in electron energy
ℎ𝜈 − ℎ𝜈′ = 𝐾. 𝐸. (1)
The momentum of a massless particle is related to its energy by the formula
𝐸 = 𝑝𝑐 (2)
Since the energy of a photon is ℎ𝜈, its momentum is
𝐸 hν
𝑝= =
𝑐 𝑐
Momentum, unlike energy, is a vector quantity that incorporates direction as well as magnitude,
and in the collision, momentum must be conserved in each of two mutually perpendicular
directions. The directions we choose here are that of the original photon and one perpendicular
to it in the plane containing the electron and the scattered photon.
The initial photon momentum is ℎ𝜈/𝑐, the scattered photon momentum is ℎ𝜈′/𝑐, and the initial
and final electron momenta are respectively 0 and p. In the original photon direction (see
Figure)
Initial momentum = final momentum
hν hν'
+0= cos 𝜑 + 𝑝𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝑐 𝑐
and perpendicular to this direction
Initial momentum = final momentum
hν'
0+0 = sin 𝜑 + 𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
𝑐
The angle 𝜑 is that between the directions of the initial and scattered photons, and 𝜃 is that
between the directions of the initial photon and the recoil electron.
The first step is to multiply Eqs. (4) and (5) by c and rewrite them as
𝑝𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 = ℎ𝜈 − ℎ𝜈′𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜑
𝑝𝑐 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 = - ℎ𝜈′𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜑
By squaring each of these equations and adding the new ones together, the angle 𝜃𝜃 is
eliminated, leaving
𝑝2𝑐2 = (ℎ𝜈)2 +(ℎ𝜈′cos 𝜑)2− 2(ℎ𝜈)(ℎ𝜈′)𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑 + (ℎ𝜈′sin 𝜑)2
𝑝2𝑐2 = (ℎ𝜈)2 − 2(ℎ𝜈)(ℎ𝜈′)𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑 + (ℎ𝜈′)2 (6)
Next we equate the two expressions for the total energy of a particle
𝐸 = 𝐾. 𝐸. +𝑚𝑐2 (7)
And 𝐸 = √𝑚2 𝑐 4 + 𝑝2 𝑐 2
Hence (𝐾. 𝐸. +𝑚𝑐2)2 = 𝑚2𝑐4 + 𝑝2𝑐2
𝑝2𝑐2 = 𝐾. 𝐸.2+ 2𝑚𝑐2(K. 𝐸)
Since, 𝐾. 𝐸. = ℎ𝜈− ℎ𝜈′, we have
𝑝2𝑐2 = (ℎ𝜈− ℎ𝜈′).2+ 2𝑚𝑐2(ℎ𝜈− ℎ𝜈′)
𝑝2𝑐2 = (ℎ𝜈)2 − 2(ℎ𝜈)(ℎ𝜈′)+(ℎ𝜈′)2 + 2𝑚𝑐2(ℎ𝜈 − ℎ𝜈′) (9)
Substituting this value of p2c2 in Eq. (8), we finally obtain
2𝑚𝑐2(ℎ𝜈 − ℎ𝜈′) = 2(ℎ𝜈)(ℎ𝜈′)(1 − cos 𝜑) (10)
Dividing the above equation (10) by 2h2c2, we obtain
𝑚 ν ν'
(𝜈 − 𝜈′) = (1-′𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜑)
ℎ 𝑐𝑐
𝑚𝑐 ν ν' ν ν'
ℎ
(𝑐 − 𝑐 ) = 𝑐 𝑐 (1-′𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜑)
Or it can be simplified as
𝑚𝑐 1 1 1 1 𝑐
ℎ
(λ − λ′) = λ λ′ (1-′𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜑) (∵ = λ)
ν
∆𝛌 = 𝜆′ − 𝜆 = 𝜆𝑐 (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑) (11)
𝒉
With 𝜆𝑐 = (= 2.426 pm), is called Compton wavelength.
𝒎𝒄
Equation (11) gives Compton shift ∆𝛌 in photon’s wavelength
The Compton wavelength gives the scale of the wavelength change of the incident photon.
Case 1: If 𝜑 = 0°, then cos0° = 1 gives ∆λ = 0. This means that there is no Compton shift.
Case 2: If 𝜑 = 90°, then cos90° = 0 gives ∆λ = λc, Compton wavelength
Case 3: If 𝜑 = 180°, then cos180° = -1 gives ∆λ = 2𝜆𝑐
Thus, the greatest wavelength change possible corresponds to 𝜑 = 180°, when the wavelength
change will be twice the Compton wave-length 𝜆𝑐.