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Photoelectric Effect
See how light knocks electrons off a metal target, and recreate the experiment that spawned the field of quantum mechanics.
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Teaching Resources
Main Topics
- Light
- Quantum Mechanics
- Photons
Sample Learning Goals
- Visualize and describe the photoelectric effect experiment.
- Correctly predict the results of experiments of the photoelectric effect: e.g. how changing the intensity of light will affect the current and the energy of electrons, how changing the wavelength of light will affect the current and the energy of electrons, how changing the voltage of light will affect the current and the energy of electrons, how changing the material of the target will affect the current and the energy of electrons.
- Describe how these results lead to the photon model of light: e.g. argue that only a photon model of light can explain why, when light is shining on the metal but there is no current, increasing the frequency will lead to a current, but increasing the intensity of light or the voltage between the plates will not.
Tips for Teachers
The teacher's guide (pdf) contains tips created by the PhET team.
Teaching Ideas
| Title | Authors | Level | Type | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Conductivity: an inquiry activity (also uses other sims)
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Trish Loeblein | UG-Intro HS |
CQs Lab HW |
7/28/12 |
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Visualization and Visual Illusions SIM Homework
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Kathy Perkins, Carl Wieman | UG-Intro | HW | 1/9/11 |
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Intro to Photoelectric Effect Interactive Lecture
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Sam McKagan, Kathy Perkins and Carl Wieman | UG-Intro UG-Adv |
Demo CQs |
1/9/11 |
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Understanding the Photoelectric Effect
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Sam McKagan, Kathy Perkins, and Carl Wieman | UG-Intro UG-Adv |
HW | 4/20/10 |
| Interactive Photoelectric Effect Lab | Bob Schaefer | HS | Lab | 4/18/13 |
| Shine a Light | Dean Baird, Paul G. Hewitt | UG-Intro HS |
Lab | 5/7/11 |
| Photoelectric Virtual Experiment | Chee Heong Lee | HS UG-Intro |
Lab CQs |
1/5/11 |
| Photoelectric Effect | Pauline Seales | HS | Lab | 8/2/10 |
| photoelectric effect | David Carroll | UG-Intro HS |
Lab | 4/27/10 |
| The Photoelectric Effect and Work Functions | Robert Pirrie | HS | Lab | 1/14/10 |
| How to add Instruction set in Photoelectric Expt. | Pravin Joshi | UG-Intro | Lab | 11/2/09 |
| The Photoelectric Effect | David Carroll | HS UG-Intro |
HW Lab |
6/18/09 |
| Photoelectric Effect Virtual Experiment | Paul Longwell | HS | Lab | 2/19/09 |
| Photoelectic Effect PhET Lab | Chris Bires | UG-Intro HS |
Lab HW |
3/19/13 |
| The Photoelectric Effect and Work Functions | Robert Pirrie, Gary Bent | HS | Lab | 1/13/09 |
| Photoelectric effect | Jeff Bourne | UG-Intro | Lab | 10/9/07 |
| The Photoelectric Effect | Andrzej Sokolowski | HS | Lab | 4/25/07 |
| Photoelectric Effect | curt miller, Donald Collins | HS | Lab | 9/18/07 |
| Photoelectric Effect Activity | Donald Collins, Dennis Robbins | UG-Intro | Lab | 8/8/11 |
| 광전효과 사용지침서 | 이화국(Wha Kuk Lee) | UG-Intro HS |
Lab Other |
5/8/13 |
You can submit your own ideas and activities.
Translated Versions:
Software Requirements
| Windows | Macintosh | Linux |
|---|---|---|
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Microsoft Windows
XP/Vista/7 Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later |
OS 10.5 or later
Sun Java 1.5.0_19 or later |
Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later |
Credits
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
|---|---|---|
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