Intensity of Light

[Sophia Dinh 1D]

Why does increasing intensity not eject an electron?

[005391550]

because increasing the intensity is equivalent to increasing the number of photons but it doesn't change the energy each photon has. the energy each photon contains is what ejects the electron

[kim 2I]

It is important to consider light as photon packets of energy where a single photon interacts with a single electron. Therefore, each individual photon must have enough energy to remove each electron. Increasing the intensity only increased the number of photons that are hitting the surface of the metal, not the energy of each photon. However, it is true that if the energy per photon is greater or equal to the energy needed to remove an electron, then increasing the light's intensity would eject more electrons (since there are more photon-to-electron interactions).

[Alexa Hernandez 3k]

Increasing the intensity increases the overall number of photons. In order to eject a single electron you need enough energy within a single photon.

[Diana_Diep2I]

This is shown in the equation, E=hv. Energy of the photon is affected by the frequency and not the intensity. If there is not enough energy (frequency is not high enough) then e- wouldn't be emitted.