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Terminology
Work Function:
minimum amount of energy required to remove an electron from the surface of a substance

Threshold Frequency:
lowest frequency of light that can cause ejection of electrons from a substance

Quanta:

  • packages of energy (energy unit)
  • radiated energy is quantized
  • it exists in multiples of a smallest possible value

Photons:
  • quanta of electromagnetic radiation
  • the incoming (incident) light

Photoelectrons:
electrons that are ejected from the metal

The PHOTO ELECTRIC EFFECT shows that light has a PARTICLE NATURE
  • the particle nature of light is more pronounced at the high frequency end of the spectrum
  • the wave nature of light is more pronounced at the low frequency end of the spectrum
DUAL NATURE of LIGHT
Since light can behave both as a particle or as a wave, it is said that light has a dual nature.
(dual means 2)
It is said that light travels as a wave, but interacts as a particle when it strikes a substance.

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