What affects the number of electrons emitted?

[SophieCacdac_3H]

Hi, I'm a little confused because I thought that the photoelectric experiment found that "increasing the amplitude does not eject electrons, but increasing frequency does" however I think someone at a step-up session said that the # of electrons emitted is dependent on the # of photons which is controlled by intensity and not energy. Could someone please clarify? Also, how does wavelength play into this?

[Joy 3F]

increasing the intensity (number of photons) of light above the threshold frequency increases the number of emitted electrons, but the energy of those electrons is determined by the frequency of individual photons. Wavelength is indirectly related through its inverse proportionality to frequency. The key factor for the photoelectric effect is the energy of the incident photons, and this is determined by their frequency.

[AngeloCasubuan2B]

You can think of it as the frequency/wavelength of the light being the "key" to emitting electrons, while the work energy required is the "lock". No matter how intense the light is, it will not emit any electrons of it is not at a high enough frequency or short enough wavelength. Once the frequency/wavelength is correct, then the intensity of the light will affect the number of electrons emitted. For the second part of your question, we usually use frequency for photoelectric effect problems because it easily plugs in the E = hv equation (with h being the frequency). However, we can get the frequency of the light from its wavelength by using the c = (frequency)(wavelength) equation.

[SophieCacdac_3H]

Thank you so much that helps a lot!