What is the effect of increasing the intensity of light on the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the effect of increasing the intensity of light on the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons?
It increases
It decreases
It remains the same
It becomes zero
The maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons is dependent only on the frequency of the incident light, not on its intensity.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What is the effect of increasing the intensity of light on the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons?
Solution: The maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons is dependent only on the frequency of the incident light, not on its intensity.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand that light can be thought of as made up of tiny particles called photons.
Step 2: Know that when light hits a surface, it can cause electrons to be emitted from that surface.
Step 3: Realize that the energy of each photon is determined by the frequency of the light (how 'fast' the light waves are oscillating).
Step 4: Learn that the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons depends on the energy of the photons, which is related to the frequency of the light, not the number of photons (intensity).
Step 5: Conclude that increasing the intensity of light means more photons are hitting the surface, but it does not change the energy of each individual photon.
Step 6: Therefore, the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons remains the same regardless of how intense the light is, as long as the frequency stays constant.
