Photoelectric effect

In the photoelectric effect, electrons are emitted from atoms when they absorb energy from light. Electrons emitted in this manner may be calledphotoelectrons.

In 1887, Heinrich Hertz discovered that electrodes illuminated with ultraviolet light create electric sparks more easily. In 1905 Albert Einsteinpublished a paper that explained experimental data from the photoelectric effect as being the result of light energy being carried in discrete quantized packets. This discovery led to the quantum revolution. Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 for "his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect".

The photoelectric effect requires photons with energies from a few electronvolts to over 1 MeV in high atomic number elements. Study of the photoelectric effect led to important steps in understanding the quantum nature of light and electrons and influenced the formation of the concept ofwave–particle duality. Other phenomena where light affects the movement of electric charges include the photoconductive effect (also known asphotoconductivity or photoresistivity), the photovoltaic effect, and the photoelectrochemical effect. It also shed light on Max Planck's previous discovery of the Planck relation (E = hf) linking energy (E) and frequency (f) as arising from quantization of energy. The factor h is known as thePlanck constant.

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