Physics Department
Spring 2006, Physics 4D
Instructor: Younes Ataiiyan
By: Fermin Pureco, David Henderson, and
Ivan Sanchez
Hertz's Spark Gaps
-Heinrich Hertz, in 1887, made observations of
the photoelectric effect and of the production
and reception of electromagnetic (EM) waves.
-His receiver consisted of a coil with a spark gap,
whereupon a spark would be seen upon
detection of EM waves. He placed the
apparatus in a darkened box in order to see the
spark better; he observed, however, that the
maximum spark length was reduced when in the
box
-When removed, the spark length would
increase. Hertz concluded his months of
investigation and reported the results obtained.
-He did not further pursue investigation of this
QuickTime and a
effect, nor did he make any attempt at TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
explaining how the observed phenomenon was
brought about.
Source: www.epsic.ch/Branches/Audiovideo/audio/la
adio/radio/hertz.htm
Joseph John Thomsons CRT
-In 1899, Joseph John Thomson
investigated ultraviolet light in Crookes
tubes.
-In the research, Thomson enclosed a
metal plate (a cathode) in a vacuum tube,
and exposed it to high frequency
radiation. It was thought that the
oscillating electromagnetic fields caused QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
the atoms' field to resonate and, after are needed to see this picture.
reaching a certain amplitude, caused a
subatomic "corpuscle" to be emitted, and
current to be detected.
-The amount of this current varied with the
intensity and color of the radiation. Larger Source: www.luminet.net/~wenonah/history/rife.htm
Theory
Concerning an Heuristic Point of View Toward
the Emission and Transformation of Light
It seems to me that the observations associated with blackbody
radiation, fluorescence, the production of cathode rays by ultraviolet
light, and other related phenomena connected with the emission or
transformation of light are more readily understood if one assumes that
the energy of light is discontinuously distributed in space. In
accordance with the assumption to be considered here, the energy of a
light ray spreading out from a point source is not continuously
distributed over an increasing space but consists of a finite number of
energy quanta which are localized at points in space, which move
without dividing, and which can only be produced and absorbed as
complete units.
A. Einstein, Ann. Phys. 17, 132 1905
Einsteins Theory
The photoelectric effect is
interpreted with photons and
the conservation of energy
with the equation:
hf = + mv2
hf equals the energy
of each photon
Source: http://www.westga.edu/~chem/courses/chem410/410_08/sld017.htm
Kinetic energy of emitted
electron vs. Light frequency
Higher-frequency photons have more energy, so
they should make the electrons come flying out
faster; thus, switching to light with the same
intensity but a higher frequency should increase
the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted
electrons. If you leave the frequency the same
but crank up the intensity, more electrons should
come out (because there are more photons to
hit them), but they won't come out any faster,
because each individual photon still has the
same energy. And if the frequency is low
enough, then none of the photons will have
enough energy to knock an electron out of an
atom. So if you use really low-frequency light,
you shouldn't get any electrons, no matter how
high the intensity is. Whereas if you use a high
frequency, you should still knock out some
electrons even if the intensity is very low.
Source: http://online.cctt.org/physicslab/
content/PhyAPB/lessonnotes/dualnature/
photoelectric.asp
Simple Photoelectric Experiment
Source: http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/particlesandwaves/phototube.jpg
Photoelectric Effect
Applications
Applications
The Photoelectric effect has numerous applications, for example
night vision devices take advantage of the effect. Photons entering
the device strike a plate which causes electrons to be emitted, these
pass through a disk consisting of millions of channels, the current
through these are amplified and directed towards a fluorescent
screen which glows when electrons hit it. Image converters, image
intensifiers, television camera tubes, and image storage tubes also
take advantage of the point-by-point emission of the photocathode.
In these devices an optical image incident on a semitransparent
photocathode is used to transform the light image into an electron
image. The electrons released by each element of the photoemitter
are focused by an electron-optical device onto a fluorescent screen,
reconverting it in the process again into an optical image
Applications: Night Vision
Device
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/ug/jacksom2/
Photoelectric Effect Applications
Source: http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa071401a.htm
Photoelectric Smoke Detector
Source: http://www.bassburglaralarms.com/images_products/d350rpl_addressable_duct_smoke_detector_b10685.jpg
Applications
Solar panels are nothing more
than a series of metallic plates
that face the Sun and exploit the
photoelectric effect. The light
from the Sun will liberate
electrons, which can be used to
heat your home, run your lights,
or, in sufficient enough
quantities, power everything in
your home.