Electromagnetic Waves,

Planck’s Quantum Theory,

and Photoelectric Effect
CHARLITO R. ALIGADO
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER III, BNCHS-STEM
 Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
1. Describe the characteristics of a wave;
2. Relate the order of the regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum in terms of their
wavelength and frequency;
3. State Planck’s equation;
 Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
1. Solve problems related to electromagnetic
radiation, its energy, wavelength, and frequency;
2. Describe the particle-wave duality of light; and
3. Recognize technological applications of the
photoelectric effect
Background
• Isaac Newton performed an experiments
to demonstrate that white light consists of
the individual colors of the rainbow
combined together using lenses and
mirrors and coined the term "corpuscular"
view of light.
Background
• Christian Huygens, had shown that optical
phenomena such as reflection and
refraction could be equally well explained
in terms of light as waves travelling at high
speed through a medium called
"luminiferous aether".
Background
• Thomas Young demonstrated that light
passing through narrow, closely spaced
slits produced interference patterns that
could not be explained in terms of
Newtonian particles but could be easily
explained in terms of waves.
Background
• James Clerk Maxwell developed his theory
of electromagnetic radiation and showed
that light was the visible part of a vast
spectrum of electromagnetic waves, the
particle view of light became thoroughly
discredited.
Background
• By the end of the nineteenth century, scientists
viewed the physical universe as roughly comprising
two separate domains: matter composed of
particles moving according to Newton's laws of
motion, and electromagnetic radiation consisting of
waves governed by Maxwell's equations. Thus,
known to as classical mechanics and classical
electrodynamics (or classical electromagnetism).
Background
• As we shall see, these paradoxes led to a
contemporary framework that intimately
connects particles and waves at a
fundamental level called wave-particle
duality, which has superseded the
classical view.
Background
• Visible light and other forms of
electromagnetic radiation play important roles
in chemistry, since they can be used to infer
the energies of electrons within atoms and
molecules.
Background
• Much of modern technology is based on
electromagnetic radiation. For example, radio
waves from a mobile phone, X-rays used by
dentists, the energy used to cook food in your
microwave, the radiant heat from red-hot
objects, and the light from your television
screen are forms of electromagnetic radiation
that all exhibit wavelike behavior.
Wave
• An oscillation or periodic movement that can transport energy
from one point in space to another.
• Common examples of waves are all around us.
• Kinetic energy is transferred through matter while the matter
remains essentially in place. An insightful example of a wave
occurs in sports stadiums when fans in a narrow region of seats
rise simultaneously and stand with their arms raised up for a
few seconds before sitting down again while the fans in
neighboring sections likewise stand up and sit down in
sequence.
Wave
• All waves, including forms of electromagnetic radiation, are
characterized by,
• a wavelength (denoted by λ, the lowercase Greek letter lambda)
• Is the distance between two consecutive peaks or troughs in a wave
(measured in meters in the SI system). Electromagnetic waves have
wavelengths that fall within an enormous range-wavelengths of kilometers
(103 m) to picometers (10−12 m) have been observed.
Wave
• All waves, including forms of electromagnetic radiation, are characterized by,
• a frequency (denoted by ν, the lowercase Greek letter nu)
• is the number of wave cycles that pass a specified point in space in a
specified amount of time (in the SI system, this is measured in seconds). A
cycle corresponds to one complete wavelength. The unit for frequency,
expressed as cycles per second [s−1], is the hertz (Hz). Common multiples of
this unit are megahertz, (1 MHz = 1 × 106 Hz) and gigahertz (1 GHz = 1 × 109
Hz).
Wave
• All waves, including forms of electromagnetic radiation, are
characterized by,
• an amplitude
• the magnitude of the wave's displacement and this corresponds
to one-half the height between the peaks and troughs. The
amplitude is related to the intensity of the wave, which for light
is the brightness, and for sound is the loudness.
Standing Waves
• Standing waves (also known as stationary waves) remain
constrained within some region of space. Standing waves play an
important role in our understanding of the electronic structure of
atoms and molecules. The simplest example of a standing wave
is a one-dimensional wave associated with a vibrating string that
is held fixed at its two end points.
Measuring Waves
Velocity (μ)
◦speed of a wave as it moves forward
◦depends on wave type and medium
μ: velocity (m/s)
μ=×f :wavelength (m)
f: frequency (Hz)
Measuring Waves
• In electromagnetic radiation, the frequency of
the wave when multiplied by its wavelength
corresponds to the speed of light, c, as shown
in the equation;
λf = c
• where c = 3.00 x 108 m/s.
Examples
  sodium streetlight gives off yellow light that has a wavelength of
A
589 nm (1 nm = 1 × 10−9 m). What is the frequency of this light?
Given: = 589 nm

 
f
 
f = 5.09 x
Electromagnetic Spectrum
• The range of all types of electromagnetic radiation. Each
of the various colors of visible light has specific
frequencies and wavelengths associated with them, and
visible light makes up only a small portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
• Wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional: As
the wavelength increases, the frequency decreases. The
inverse proportionality
Electromagnetic Spectrum
PLANCK’S QUANTUM THEORY
• When an object is heated, the electrons on the
surface are thermally agitated and begin to emit
radiation.
• A BLACKBODY is a material that absorbs all
radiation that falls on it and is therefore a perfect
absorber. When such a blackbody is heated, it was
expected to emit at every wavelength of light that it
is able to absorb.
BLACKBODY RADIATION
• Any object with a
temperature above absolute
zero emits light at all
wavelengths. If the object is
perfectly black (so it doesn't
reflect any light), then the
light that comes from it is
called blackbody radiation.
Some experimental facts about
blackbody radiation:
a. The blackbody spectrum depends only on the
temperature of the object, and not on what it is made
of. An iron horseshoe, a ceramic vase, and a piece of
charcoal --- all emit the same blackbody spectrum if
their temperatures are the same.
b. As the temperature of an object increases, it emits
more blackbody energy at all wavelengths.
 Some experimental facts about blackbody
radiation:
c. As the temperature of an object
increases, the peak wavelength of the
blackbody spectrum becomes shorter
(bluer). For example, blue stars are
hotter than red stars.
d. The blackbody spectrum always
becomes small at the left-hand side
(the short wavelength, high frequency
side).
PLANCK’S QUANTUM THEORY
• Classical physics predicted that the
maximum wavelength emitted by the
blackbody would be infinite. However,
results proved otherwise and classical
physics could not explain the resulting
spectrum of blackbody radiation.
• This means that, according
to classical physics, there
should be no limit to the
energy of the light produced
by the electrons vibrating at
high frequencies.
• Experimentally, the
blackbody spectrum always
becomes small at the left-
hand side (short
wavelength, high
frequency).
 PLANCK’S QUANTUM THEORY
• Max Planck came up with the solution. He
proposed that energy is not shared equally by
electrons that vibrate with different frequencies.
• Planck said that energy comes in clumps. He
called a clump of energy a quantum. The size of
a clump of energy --- a quantum --- depends on
the frequency of vibration.
 PLANCK’S QUANTUM THEORY
• Here is Planck's rule for the a quantum of energy for a
vibrating electron:
energy of a quantum = (a calibration constant) x (frequency of
vibration)
E = hf
;where h, the calibration constant, is today called Planck's
constant. Its value is about 6 x 10-34 J•s
PLANCK’S QUANTUM THEORY
• According to quantum theory proposed by
Planck, the amount of energy emitted or
absorbed by a body can have values of 1hf, 2
hf, 3 hf, 10 hf, but never 4.8 hf or 0.25 hf.
PLANCK’S QUANTUM THEORY
• And because f=c/λ, the equation can also be
expressed as;

E = hf; h(c/λ)
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• According to classical physics, when light hits a metal
surface, the electrons in the metal should slowly absorb
energy from the light until they have enough energy to be
emitted to produce a current.
• It also predicted that as the intensity of the incident light
increases, the kinetic energy of the emitted electrons
should increase.
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• However, the experiment did not support these predictions
but provided the following observations:
a. When light is made to hit a metal surface, there is a
threshold frequency below which no electrons can be
ejected regardless of the intensity of the incident
light.
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• However, the experiment did not support these predictions
but provided the following observations:
a. Above the threshold frequency, the number of ejected
electrons was proportional to the intensity (or
brightness) of the incident light but their energies were
not.
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• However, the experiment did not support these predictions
but provided the following observations:
a. Above the threshold frequency, the kinetic energy of
the emitted electrons increased linearly with the
frequency of the incident light.
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• When light shines on the surface of a metallic substance,
electrons in the metal absorb the energy of the light and
they can escape from the metal's surface. This is called
the photoelectric effect, and it is used to produce the
electric current that runs many solar-powered devices.
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• Albert Einstein came up with the solution. If Max
Planck's idea that energy comes in clumps (quanta)
is correct, then light must consist of a stream of
clumps of energy. Each clump of light energy is
called a photon.
• Each photon has an energy equal to hf (Planck's
constant times the frequency of the light)
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• The energy of light is not evenly distributed along
the wave, but is concentrated in the photons.
• A dimmer light means fewer photons, but simply
turning down the light (without changing its
frequency) does not alter the energy of an individual
photon.
EINSTEIN’S EXPLANATION OF
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• So for a specific frequency light, if a single photon
has enough energy to eject an electron from a
metallic surface, then electrons will always be
ejected immediately after the light is turned on and
the photons hit the metal.
THE PARTICLE-WAVE DUALITY OF
LIGHT
• Einstein proposed that the only way to explain the
photoelectric effect was to say that instead of being
a wave, as was generally accepted, light was
actually made up of lots of small packets of energy
called photons that behaved like particles. Each
photon has energy.
THE PARTICLE-WAVE DUALITY OF
LIGHT
• The energy, hf, of the incident light is used to remove the
electron from the surface of the metal. The rest will be
given off as the kinetic energy of the electron. In equation
form, this is given by
hf=W+K.E.
where W is the work function (the energy needed to eject the
electron) and K.E. is the kinetic energy.
K.E.=hf-W
*the kinetic energy of the emitted electrons varied linearly with the frequency of the incident light.
THE PARTICLE-WAVE DUALITY OF
LIGHT
• Light is a wave as shown by
different experiments like the
diffraction of light by a prism to
yield the visible spectrum.
THE PARTICLE-WAVE DUALITY OF
LIGHT
• However, the photoelectric effect experiment
showed that light also behaves like a particle.
Thus light has both wavelike and particle like
properties. This concept is called the particle-
wave duality of light.
Note:
• The apparent mass of a photon of light with
wavelength, λ, can be expressed from the
relationship of Einstein’s famous energy equation
from the theory of relativity:

E=mc2
 Note:
•  And the energy equation by Planck:

Ephoton = hf =

m
 

=
 

Apparent mass of a photon = =

Note that the apparent mass of a photon depends on its wavelength. However, a photon does not have a mass in a classical sense.
Example:
1. The work function or the energy needed to eject
an electron in cesium metal is 3.42x10-19 J. If an
incident light of frequency 1.00 x 1015 s-1 is used
to irradiate the metal, will electrons be ejected?
Show your calculations.
Solution
E = hf
= (6.626x10-34J•s)(1.00x1015s-1)
= 6.626x10-19J
-This energy is greater than the work function of
cesium metal. Therefore, electrons will be ejected from
the metal.
Example:
2. What will be the kinetic energy of the ejected
electron?
KE = hf – W
= (6.626x10-19J) - (3.42x10-19J)
= 3.21x10-19J
Thank you.