Fundamentals of Physics Extended (10th Edition)

Published by Wiley
ISBN 10: 1-11823-072-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-11823-072-5

Chapter 38 - Photons and Matter Waves - Problems - Page 1185: 89a

Answer

Metallic sodium does not show the photoelectric effect for red light.

Work Step by Step

For light of frequency $f$ and wavelength $\lambda$, the photon energy is $E =hf$ or, $E=\frac{ch}{\lambda}$, in which $c$ is the speed of light in vacuum, and $h$ is the Planck's constant. In our case, the wavelength of the incident red light is $\lambda=680\;nm$ $=680\times 10^{-9}$ $m$ Therefore, the energy of a photon of red light $E=\frac{3\times 10^{8}\times 6.63\times 10^{-34}}{680\times 10^{-9}}$ $J$ or, $E=2.925\times 10^{-19}\;J$ or, $E=\frac{2.925\times 10^{-19}}{1.6\times 10^{-19}}$ $eV$ or, $E\approx 1.828\;eV$ The smallest amount of energy needed to eject an electron from metallic sodium is $2.28\;eV$, that is, the work function $(\phi)$ of the metallic sodium is $\phi=2.28\;eV$ As, $E\lt\phi$, metallic sodium does not show the photoelectric effect for red light.
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