EXPERIMENT NO.4 To Study the Variation of Photoelectric Effect with Intensity of Light.

APPARATUS The apparatus, which I have used to conduct this experiment, include Photocell, Electric Lamps, Battery, and Scale.

THEORY Electromagnetic Waves; At this point in the course we'll move into optics. This might seem like a separate topic from electricity and magnetism, but optics is really a sub-topic of electricity and magnetism.

This is because optics deals with the behavior of light, and light is one example of an electromagnetic wave.

Photon The quantum of electromagnetic energy, regarded as a discrete particle having zero mass, no electric charge, and an indefinitely long lifetime. Phonon

A quantum of acoustic energy, the level of which is a function of the frequency of the acoustic wave. Note: Phonons in acoustics are analogous to photons in electromagnetic. The energy of a phonon is usually less than 0.1 eV (electron-volt) and thus is one or two orders of magnitude less than that of a photon. When photons and phonons interact in semiconductors used in communications systems, undesirable system behavior can occur.

Ionization of Atoms; Ionization is the gain or loss of electrons. The loss of electrons, which is the more common process in astrophysical environments, converts an atom into a positively charged ion, while the gain of electrons converts an atom into a negatively charged ion. In the subsequent discussion, we will use the terms ionization and ionize in the sense of losing electrons to form positive ions.

Threshold Frequency; Threshold Frequency is the minimum frequency of radiant energy required to completely remove an electron from a metal. This applies particularly to photoelectric components and cathode ray tubes.

The Function;

Work

Electrons in the metal plate are held to the atoms in the plate with certain energy. For the purposes of describing the photoelectric effect, this energy is called the "work function." It is defined more rigorously as the energy that would be needed to push the electrons out an infinite distance from the atomic nucleus. We can calculate this fairly easily for simple atoms by utilizing the equation for electric potential energy, for anything beyond a hydrogen atom, the work function becomes too complicated to calculate, so we look it up. The energy depends on the charge of the nucleus, the charge of the electron, and the distance between the nucleus and the electron.

Stopping Potential; Voltage required stopping the outward movement of electrons emitted by photoelectric or thermionic action. EINSTINE THEORY OF PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT;

Einstein's theory predicts that the maximum kinetic energy is completely independent of the intensity of the light (because it doesn't show up in the equation anywhere). Shining twice as much light results in twice as many photons, and more electrons releasing, but the maximum kinetic energy of those individual electrons won't change unless the energy, not the intensity, of the light changes. The maximum kinetic energy results when the least-tightly-bound electrons break free, but what about the most-tightly-bound ones; the ones in which there is just enough energy in the photon to knock it loose, but the kinetic energy that results in zero. Setting Kmax equal to zero for this cutoff frequency (nuc), we get: nuc = phi / h Or The cutoff wavelength: lambdac = hc / phi These equations indicate why a low-frequency light source would be unable to free electrons from the metal, and thus would produce no photoelectrons. PLANCKs constant; Planck's constant, symbolized h, relates the energy in one quantum (photon) of electromagnetic radiation to the frequency of that radiation. In the International System of units (SI), the constant is equal to approximately 6.626176 x 10-34 joule-seconds. In the centimeter-gram-second (cgs ) or small-unit metric system, it is equal to approximately 6.626176 x 10-27 ergseconds. The energy E contained in a photon, which represents the smallest possible 'packet' of energy in an electromagnetic wave, is directly proportional to the frequency f according to the following equation: E = hf If E is given in joules and f is given in hertz (the unit measure of frequency). RELATIONSHIP b/w CURRENT & INTENSITY; The photoelectric current is known to be directly proportional to the intensity of incident light with fixed frequency.

The photoelectric effect is dependent upon various factors including frequency of light, intensity of light, nature of material, energy of light and potential difference. However, even if the photoelectric effect is caused, the photoelectric current which is produced as a result of it may vary if intensity of light is changed, provided that frequency of illumination is greater than threshold frequency. To determine the impact of changing light intensity on photoelectric effect while keeping the other factors constant, an experiment was performed. The impact was seen by changing the distance of light source from photocell and the recording the readings on Micrometer. KINETIC ENERGY OF PHOTOELECTRONS: The kinetic energy of photoelectrons increases when light of high energy falls on the surface of matter. When energy of light is equal to threshold energy then electrons are emitted from the surface whereas when energy is greater than threshold energy then photoelectric current is produced. The threshold frequency is not same for all kinds of matter and it varies from matter to matter.

MAX PLANCKs QUANTUM THEORY:The history of quantum mechanics dates back to the 1838 discovery of cathode rays by Michael Faraday. This was followed by the 1859 statement of the black body radiation problem by Gustav Kirchhoff, the 1877 suggestion by Ludwig Boltzmann that the energy states of a physical system can be discrete, and the 1900 quantum hypothesis of Max Planck. Planck's hypothesis that energy is radiated and absorbed in discrete "quanta", or "energy elements", precisely matched the observed patterns of black body radiation. According to Planck, each energy element E is proportional to its frequency :

Where h is Planck's constant. Planck cautiously insisted that this was simply an aspect of the processes of absorption and emission of radiation and had nothing to do with the physical reality of the radiation itself. However, in 1905 Albert Einstein interpreted Planck's quantum hypothesis realistically and used it to explain the photoelectric effect, in which shining light on certain materials can eject electrons from the material. ALBERT EINSTINEs EXPLANATION The other exemplar that led to quantum mechanics was the study of electromagnetic waves such as light. When it was found in 1900 by Max

Planck that the energy of waves could be described as consisting of small packets or quanta, Albert Einstein further developed this idea to show that an electromagnetic wave such as light could be described as a particle - later called the photon - with a discrete quanta of energy that was dependent on its frequency.[5] This led to a theory of unity between subatomic particles and electromagnetic waves called waveparticle duality in which particles and waves were neither one nor the other, but had certain properties of both.

Procedure;

After arranging all the equipment, I put the diagram in front of me and
I started making neat and tight connections by following the diagram. The negative terminal of the battery was connected to cathode K of the photo cell C through a rheostat and galvanometer G. The anode A of the photocell C was connected to the positive terminal of the battery through a key. After arranging the apparatus, I put the light lamp at some distance from the photocell. The distance was measured by using a scale. The lamp was positioned in such a way that it was facing cathode of the photocell. When I switched on the lamp, the light fell on cathode and it emitted electrons. Since cathode was negatively charged therefore, it repelled the electrons and emitted them towards anode, the positive terminal of the photocell. The movement of electrons from cathode to anode produced photoelectric current in the circuit. I would like to mention here, that the photocell which I had used had a concave cathode to give a converging beam of electrons to anode. When I ensured that the apparatus was well arranged and photoelectric current was being produced, I changed the distance of the lamp from cathode of photocell and noted down the new distance. While changing the distance I checked the deflection in the micro ammeter. I noted down the reading of deflection of Micro ammeter. The relation between intensity of illumination and distance is as follows: I = constant/d It means that intensity of light is inversely proportional to the square of distance. Since I was taking the readings of distance and galvanometer therefore, this formula could be used to determine the intensity of light. One thing which I considered while changing the distance was that whenever I changed the distance of the lamp from the cathode, I moved the lamp linearly, to keep the angle of incident rays same from the cathode.

 I took few readings of distance of lamp from cathode of photocell and

deflections in Micro ammeter. Since I did not change the angle at which light was falling on the cathode, therefore, I ensured that the relation between intensity of light and square of distance was linear. I = constant/d I = 1/d APPLICATIONS OF PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT;

The photo-cell is the most ranging of applications of the photoelectric

effect. It is most commonly found in solar panels. It works on the basic principle of light striking the cathode which causes the emission of electrons, which in turn produces a current. The related field of astronomy, the photo-electric effect is used in the form of photo-multiplier tubes and charge coupled devices (CCDs).CCDs are made of a thin wafer of silicon which is sensitive to light, on top or bottom of which is placed a tight array of pixels. The entire detector is usually a few square centimeters in size, about the size of a nickel, and it can be as thin as a micron, or a tenth of the diameter of a human hair. Pixels are laid out on the silicon wafer in a rectangular grid pattern, usually several hundred to a few thousand on a side. In order to fit so many pixels on such a small surface, the pixels themselves must also be very small; each measures approximately 10 to 20 microns across. The main application of the photoelectric effect is the process where light is transformed (via photovoltaic cell) to electric current. The given figure is a diagram of an apparatus in which the photoelectric effect can occur. An evacuated glass or quartz tube contains a metallic plate E connected to the negative terminal of the battery and another metallic plate C that is connected to the positive terminal of the battery. When the tube is kept in the dark, the ammeter reads zero, indicating no current in the circuit. However, when

the plate E is illuminated by light having a wavelength shorter than some particular wavelength that depends on the metal used to make plate E, a current is detected by the ammeter, indicating a flow of charges across the gab between plates E and C. This current arises from photoelectrons emitted from the negative plate (the emitter) and collected at the positive plate (the collector).

REFERENCEs; University physics wikipedi.com