In: Physics
In the photo-electric effect, a metal is illuminated with light. a) Describe the dependence of the photo-electric effect on the frequency ν of the irradiating light. Explain why this dependence cannot be explained by the classical wave theory of light. b) Sketch the graph which describes the dependence of the kinetic energy Ekin of the photoelectrons as a function of the frequency ν of the incident radiation. Label axes and intersection points with axes clearly. c) Sodium has a work function W = 2.4 eV. Calculate its threshold frequency ν0 and the maximum velocity vmax of the photo-electrons produced when the sodium is illuminated by light of a wavelength λ of 500 nm. d) Discuss what happens if the metal is illuminated by light of a wavelength λ of 700 nm.