Photoelectric effect conditions [ENDORSED]

[Juliana Misirian]

In the Post-module assessment, there was this question: In the photoelectric effect what condition must occur for an electron to be emitted from a metal surface?
Would the E (photon) have to be greater than, equal to, or less than the E (remove e-)?

[Nicolas Zarco 2K]

The energy of the photon would have to be equal to or greater than the energy required to remove an electron.

[William_Hora_2H]

If the energy of the photon was less than the threshold energy (energy required to remove electron), an electron would not be removed--thus the energy must be greater than or equal to said threshold.

[Furkan Acar 3C]

I'm assuming the answer would be equal to or greater than. Think of it like this, if the photon doesn't have enough energy, the electron won't move. No matter how much the photon begs it to it won't move :(

[Hailey Jeon]

E (photon) has to be greater than or equal to E (remove e-) because if the amount of photon energy is not equal to or higher than the required amount of energy for electrons to be removed, the electrons would not be removed. It is like in order to move a box, 50N is required, so if you do not push the box hard enough, the box would not move.

[Sally_Luo_3F]

The condition would be that the energy would have to be greater than or equal to removing an electron.

[Nathaniel John 2E]

Hello! For this question, the energy of the incoming light must be greater than or equal to the energy to remove an electron (threshold energy/work function) in order for an electron to be emitted from a metal surface.

Hope this helps!

[Jacqueline Musico 3A]

If, and only if, the the Energy of the photon (hv from E=hv) is greater than or equal to the Energy required to remove an electron (work function), then the electron is ejected from the meal with a kinetic energy of Ekinetic = 1/2mv^2 = hv - work function.