What is the relationship between the wavelength of light and the energy of the emitted electrons in the photoelectric effect?
Practice Questions
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Q1
What is the relationship between the wavelength of light and the energy of the emitted electrons in the photoelectric effect?
Energy is directly proportional to wavelength
Energy is inversely proportional to wavelength
Energy is independent of wavelength
Energy is proportional to the square of wavelength
The energy of the emitted electrons is inversely proportional to the wavelength of the incident light, as given by E = hc/λ.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What is the relationship between the wavelength of light and the energy of the emitted electrons in the photoelectric effect?
Solution: The energy of the emitted electrons is inversely proportional to the wavelength of the incident light, as given by E = hc/λ.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand that light can behave like a wave and has a property called wavelength, which is the distance between two peaks of the wave.
Step 2: Know that when light hits a material, it can cause electrons to be emitted from that material. This is called the photoelectric effect.
Step 3: Learn that the energy of the emitted electrons depends on the light that hits the material.
Step 4: Remember the formula E = hc/λ, where E is the energy of the emitted electrons, h is Planck's constant, c is the speed of light, and λ (lambda) is the wavelength of the light.
Step 5: Realize that as the wavelength (λ) of the light increases, the energy (E) of the emitted electrons decreases. This means they are inversely related.
Step 6: Conclude that shorter wavelengths (like blue light) have higher energy, while longer wavelengths (like red light) have lower energy.