EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF EINSTEIN’S

PHOTOELECTRIC EQUATION
NAYANA MADHU DESHPANDE
MAHARAJA’S COLLEGE
ERNAKULAM
 AIM AND OBJECTIVE

 To verify Einstein’s Photoelectric Equation by

understanding the influence of different parameters
defining the same.
 To study :
 Variation of Photocurrent with distance.
 To calculate the stopping potential for different
selected wavelengths and to understand the influence
of wavelengths on the same.
 To understand the relation influence of intensity of
light on photocurrent produced
 PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
 PHOTOELECTRTIC EFFECT, the phenomenon of emission of electrons when
electromagnetic radiation like light falls on the photosensitive metal.
 According to Einstein, the photoelectric effect in a given metal should obey the
equation,

Where is photon energy, is the maximum photoelectron energy and is the work
function
; where is the threshold frequency.

fig: Schematic diagram of photoelectric effect fig: Planck's constant apparatus

 EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATION AND FINDINGS
Variation of Stopping Potential with wavelength at constant
Distance Variation of stopping potential with wavelength

1.2  The above Graph shows

Variation of Stopping Potential
1.0
with Wavelength.
 Shorter wavelength light
0.8
produces higher stopping
Stropping Potentail (V)

potential.
0.6
 This means that lower the
wavelength of light higher the
0.4
energy . Thus photoelectrons
receive more energy and are
able to leave metal surface with
0.2
450 500 550 600 650
W avelength(nm
higher Kinetic Energy.
 Therefore, Kinetic energy is maximum corresponding to Red
Light and is minimum corresponding to Blue Light.
Variation of Stopping Potential with Distance for different Wavelengths
Variation of stopping potential with distance for different frequencies

1.1 Red
Yellow-1
Yellow-2
1.0 Green
Blue

Stopping Potential(v)
0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2
20 30 40
Distance (cm)

Graph shows Variation of Stopping Potential with Distance for

different Frequencies.
 As the distance between source of light and photocell increases the
intensity of incident light decreases. But stopping potential does
not depend on intensity of incident light. So the Stopping
Potential will not be affected.
 Variation of Photocurrent with Retarding Potential for different
filters
  red
yellow1
yellow2
1.4 green
blue
c u rre n t(m ic ro a m p e re )

0.7

0.0

0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2

retarding potential(v)
Distance between lamp and photocell=20cm Distance between lamp and photocell=40cm
 The graph plotted Photocurrent verses Retarding Potential Shows that for any
intensity of incident radiation, whether intensity is high or low, the value of the
stopping Potential is always same.
 At Voltages equal to or more negative than , Stopping Potential, the Current is Zero.
 The current increases with intensity, but reaches a saturation level for large
 As retarding potential increases, photocurrent decreases and finally reaches zero.

 Photocurrent depends upon frequency . Blue light has highest frequency. Therefore, the
corresponding stopping potential is high.
 Variation of Photocurrent with Distance

 The graph shows variation of

Photocurrent with Distance.
 The graph is plotted with
current on y-axis and distance
on x-axis
 This graph gives the
relationship between
photocurrent and distance i.e.
photocurrent is inversely
 Value of photocurrent
proportional is high
to distance.
when distance between source
and metal is less.
 And the value of Photocurrent decreases and distance
between source and metal plate increases
Variation of Photocurrent with Retarding Potential for Different Intensities
 

 The above graph shows the variation of photocurrent for different intensity.
 The graph is plotted with photocurrent on y-axis and retarding potential on
x-axis.
 A higher intensity of radiation produces a high photocurrent.
 When the intensity of incident photon increases number of electrons emitted
from the surface increases due to which current increases.
 For negative potential, as absolute value of potential increases, the value of
 RESULTS
Each term of photoelectric equation is verified.
Stopping potential corresponding to light of different frequencies is determined.
The variation of stopping potential by varying the distance between the source
and phototube is obtained for various filters.
The retarding potential is plotted against the current for various filters by fixing
the distance between source and phototube.
The variation of current with distance is found. graph is plotted for the same.
The relation between the photo electric current and the light intensity is studied
by plotting the graph of retarding potential vs. photoelectron current for three
different intensities, keeping the frequency constant.
The Retarding potential is plotted against photoelectron current for light of
three different frequencies by fixing the intensity and the variation is studied.
 RELEVANCE

 The experimental verification of Einstein's photoelectric

equation reinforced the particle nature of light.
 The results obtained from the graphs can be applied to
study the characteristics of devices which works on the
principle of photo electric effect like charge coupled
devices.
 It helps to draw inferences on the properties of solids
and atoms.
THANK YOU