physics photoelectric lab assignment
This experiment investigates the photoelectric effect which is a phenomenon of electrons being ejected from metals when light is incident on them. Scientists in the early part of the twentieth century were attempting to understand this effect by modeling light as a wave or light as a particle to see which model better explained this effect. In this experiment we ask you to answer this question using the ideas of light as waves or particles from the early twentieth century. You can answer this question by answering a related question. “Does the energy of the ejected electrons depend on light frequency or light intensity?†You will study the relationship between the frequency of light incident on a piece of metal to the energy of electrons ejected from that metal. Next you will look at the relationship between the intensity of the light incident on the metal and the energy of the ejected electrons. Ultimately you will decide whether light behaves as a wave or particle in the photoelectric effect.
