Rate at which electrons are emitted

[Diane Kang 2F]

What are some factors that can manipulate the rate at which electrons are emitted? And why exactly doesn't the energy of the incoming photon affect the rate of electron emission from the metal plate?

[Courtney Quan 1C]

Hi! If by rate you mean the number of electrons emitted per a given time, the light's intensity would affect that rather than the energy. Intensity is linked to the number of photons, so a higher intensity would result in more photons. As long as the energy of each photon is greater than or equal to the work function of the electron (so that the electron CAN be displaced), more electrons will be emitted by increasing the intensity. Per the one photon:one electron interaction, intensity increases the number of photons and increasing the intensity will displace more electrons because more photons will be present as long as the energy of the photon is greater than or equal to the work function of the electron. Therefore, increasing the intensity of the light would eject more electrons than that same light with a lower intensity. The energy of the photon doesn't affect this because the energy is what determines whether or not a single photon will displace a single photon, rather than affecting the number of electrons emitted. Hope this helps!

[Sarah Jeong 4F]

Basically if you are over the threshold level, then increasing the intensity(#of electrons), will increase the rate of the electrons that are emitted.