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Work Function

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:05 pm
by Melissa Villanueva1K
How would we solve for the work function? Like what type of information would be given to use in order to find the work function and how would we use the given. Thanks!

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:42 pm
by Tarika Gujral 1K
It depends on information given.
If given kinetic energy and energy/wavelength/frequency of incoming light, you can just subtract the energy of the incoming light from the value of kinetic energy to obtain the work function.
Another way is if you are given the value of energy of photon at 0KE (maximum wavelength or minimum frequency): in this case Ephoton = work function

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:53 pm
by Gabriela Aguilar 4H
You would just rearrange the equation EK = h v - workfunction
to solve. The Ek should be given if you are looking for workfunction.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:57 pm
by g orloff 1J
use the equation Ek=hv-work function to find what you are looking for and use algebrato re arrange.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 11:34 pm
by mayra martinez 1D
If you use the equation Ek= hv-work function you can set it up as: work function= hv-Ek and you can just substitute for h, v and Ek. Depending on what you're given just know that you can always switch around the equation to fit to what you need and that you can use other equations to help you solve for some variables.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:24 pm
by Karina Jiayu Xu 4E
Is the work function the same as the threshold energy?

Re: Work Function

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:39 pm
by Lasya Gudipudi 1A
The work function specifically refers to the minimum amount of energy required to eject an electron, and the threshold energy refers to the frequency that light has to reach to eject an electron. However, when calculating using the equation, they are the same thing, which is why Professor Lavelle uses these terms interchangeably.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 1:11 pm
by 105085381
The equation Ek=hv-work will always help you find your solution, in this case!

Re: Work Function

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 11:39 pm
by 305115396
Solve for the work function using the equation Ek = hv – work function. Usually the problem will give you the info needed to plug in values into this equation. The work function is usually in joules.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 6:48 pm
by Abhi4F
Using the equation, Energy of photon = work function + kinetic energy, you can solve for work function given the other variables.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2018 10:31 pm
by 705022748
Use Ek=hv-work to solve for work functions and use other variables given in the problem to plug in!

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:11 pm
by Jack Hewitt 2H
Melissa Villanueva 3D wrote:How would we solve for the work function? Like what type of information would be given to use in order to find the work function and how would we use the given. Thanks!

You rearrange the formula as you would with an algebraic equation and plug in what is given to solve for the work function.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:23 pm
by Nina Do 4L
Work function, threshold energy, and ionization energy all mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably. The equation you'd use is ephoton - work function (or threshold or ionization energy) = Ekinetic energy, 1/2mv^2.
Based on the information of the problem, you can work backwards to find one component which will usually allow you to find another component based on the manipulations of the light problems that are given on the front cover of the test. Hope that helps!

Re: Work Function

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:10 pm
by sarahartzell1A
Use the equation EK = h v - workfunction to solve.

Re: Work Function

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:42 pm
by Ahmed Mahmood 4D
The work function can be thought of as the amount of energy required to discharge an electron from a metal surface. As such, the energy of the incoming photon-the work function=the kinetic energy of the discharged electron. The work function is sometimes given, but it can also be algebraically determined by working with the equation and the knowledge of the energy of the incoming photon and the kinetic energy of the discharged electron.