Dual Nature Of Radiation and Matter

Photon :
It is a packet of energy. The rest mass of a photon is zero. It travels in a straight line. The energy of a photon, 𝐸=
ℎ𝑐
= ℎ𝜐 in joules.
𝜆
The photons emitted from a source, travel through space with the same speed. The frequency of a photon does not
change when it travels through different medium but its wavelength changes in different medium, as the velocity of a
photon in different media is different.
Work function of a metal :
The minimum energy, which must be supplied to the electron so that it can just come out of a metal surface, is called
the work function of the metal. It is denoted by ϕ0 .It depends on the properties of the metal, nature of the surface and
impurities. Its unit is Joule (J) or eV .
Photoelectric effect :
When light of suitable frequency incident on a metal surface, electrons are emitted from the metal surface. This photo
(light)-generated electrons are called photo electrons and this phenomenon is called photo electric effect.

Hallwachs’ and Lenard’s observations :

Lenard (1862-1947) observed that when ultraviolet radiations were allowed to fall on the emitter plate of an evacuated
glass/quartz tube enclosing two electrodes
(metal plates), current flows in the circuit (Fig.1).
As soon as the ultraviolet radiations were stopped,
the current flow also stopped.These observations indicate
that when ultraviolet radiations fall on the emitter plate C,
electrons are ejected from it which are attracted towards
the positive, collector plate A by the electric field. The
electrons flow through the evacuated glasstube, resulting
in the current flow.
Experimental study of photo electric effect
It consists of an evacuated glass/quartz tube having a photosensitive plate C and another metal plate A. Monochromatic
light from the source S of sufficiently short wavelength passes through the window W and falls on the photosensitive
plate C (emitter). A transparent quartz window is sealed on to the glass tube, which permits ultraviolet radiation to pass
through it and irradiate the photosensitive plate C.

The electrons are emitted by the plate C and are collected by the plate A (collector), by the electric field created by the
battery. The battery maintains the potential difference between the plates C and A, that can be varied. The polarity of
the plates C and A can be reversed by a commutator. Thus, the plate A can be maintained at a desired positive or negative
potential with respect to emitter C. When the collector plate A is positive with respect to the emitter plate C, the electrons
are attracted to it. The emission of electrons causes flow of electric current in the circuit. The potential difference
between the emitter and collector plates is measured by a voltmeter (V) whereas the resulting photo current flowing in
the circuit is measured by a micro ammeter (μA). The photoelectric current can be increased or decreased by varying
the potential of collector plate A with respect to the emitter plate C. The intensity and frequency of the incident light
can be varied, as can the potential difference V between the emitter C and the collector A
Photoelectric effect depends on :
1. Intensity of incident light.
2. The potential difference applied between the two electrodes.
3. The nature of the cathode material.

1. Effect of intensity of light on photocurrent

The collector A is maintained at a positive potential with
respect to emitter C so that electrons ejected from C
are attracted towards collector A. Keeping the frequency
of the incident radiation and the accelerating potential fixed,
the intensity of light is varied and the resulting photoelectric
current is measured each time. It is found that the photocurrent
increases linearly with intensity of incident light as shown here.
From the graph we conclude that, the photocurrent is directly proportional to the number of photoelectrons emitted per
second. This implies that the number of photoelectrons emitted per second is directly proportional to the intensity of
incident radiation.

2. Effect of potential on photoelectric current

Keep the plate A at some positive accelerating potential
with respect to the plate C and illuminate the plate C
with light of fixed frequency and fixed intensity I1 and
then vary the positive potential of plate A gradually
and measure the resulting photocurrent each time.
It is found that the photoelectric current increases with
increase in accelerating (positive) potential. Now repeat
this experiment with incident radiation of the same
frequency but of higher intensity I2 and I3 (I3> I2 > I1).
The following conclusions can be drawn from above observations
(i) All the photoelectrons emitted from the metal do not have the same energy.
(ii) Photoelectric current is zero when the stopping potential is sufficient to repel even the most energetic photoelectrons,
with the maximum kinetic energy (Kmax), so that Kmax = eV0
(iii) The saturation currents are now found to be at higher values. This shows that more electrons are being emitted per
second, proportional to the intensity of incident radiation
(iv) The stopping potential remains the same as that for the incident radiation of intensity I1, as shown graphically above.
Thus, for a given frequency of the incident radiation, the stopping potential is independent of its intensity.
(v) The maximum kinetic energy of photoelectrons depends on the light source and the emitter plate material, but is
independent of intensity of incident radiation

3. Effect of frequency of incident radiation on stopping potential

Adjust the same intensity of light radiation at various
frequencies and study the variation of photocurrent
with collector plate potential. The resulting variation
is shown in figure here.

The following conclusions can be drawn from above observations

(i) We obtain different values of stopping potential but the same value of the saturation current for incident radiation of
different frequencies.
(ii) The energy of the emitted electrons depends on the frequency of the incident radiations. The stopping potential is
more negative for higher frequencies of incident radiation.
(iii) The stopping potentials are in the order V03 > V02 > V01 if the frequencies are in the order ν3 > ν2> ν1. This implies
that greater the frequency of incident light, greater is the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons. Consequently,
we need greater retarding potential to stop them completely.

If we plot a graph between the frequency of

incident radiation and the corresponding
stopping potential for different metals we get
a straight line, as shown in figure here.
The graph shows that
(i) The stopping potential V0 varies linearly with the frequency of incident radiation for a given photosensitive material.
(ii) There exists a certain minimum cut-off frequency ‘ν0’ for which the stopping potential is zero.
These observations have two implications:
(a) The maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons varies linearly with the frequency of incident radiation, but is
independent of its intensity.
(b) For a frequency ‘ν’of incident radiation, lower than the cut-off frequency ‘ν0’ no photoelectric emission is possible
even if the intensity is large.

Threshold frequency : The minimum frequency ‘ν0’ which the incident light must possess so as to eject photoelectrons
from a metal surface, is called threshold frequency of the metal.
Work function : The minimum energy required to eject an electron from a surface is called work function of the surface.

Laws of photoelectric effect:

1. The photoelectric emission takes place from a metal surface, when the frequency of incident light is above its threshold
frequency.
2. The photoelectric emission starts as soon as the light is incident on the metal surface.
3. The maximum kinetic energy with which an electron is emitted from a metal surface is independent of the intensity
of light and depends upon its frequency.
4. The number of photoelectrons emitted is independent of the frequency of the incident light and depends only upon
its intensity.

Stopping potential : It is that minimum value of the negative potential (V0), which should be applied to the anode in a
photo cell so that the photoelectric current becomes zero.
1 2
𝐾𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑚𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑒𝑉0
2
where vmax is the max velocity with which the photoelectrons are emitted. It depends on :-
(i) The frequency of incident light and
(ii) The nature of the cathode material.
For a given frequency of incident radiation, it is independent of its intensity. The stopping potential is directly related
to the maximum K.E of electrons emitted as shown above.

Einstein’s Photoelectric Equation

The electrons are ejected only when light is incident on a metal.
This is due to the existence of potential barrier all around the
surface of metal. The minimum energy needed for the electron
to escape from the metal surface is called work function (ϕ0),
An incident photon supplies whole its energy ‘hν’ to the electron, which consumes some energy against work function
and comes out with the rest of energy as its kinetic energy
𝐾𝑚𝑎𝑥 = ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐0 --------------------------- (1)
Equation (1) is known as Einstein’s photo electric equation.
Determination of Planck’s constant and Work function
According to the Einstein’s photoelectric equation 𝐾𝑚𝑎𝑥 = ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐0
If V0 is the stopping potential, then 𝐾𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑒𝑉0
Thus 𝑒𝑉0 = ℎ𝜐 − ℎ𝜐0 --------------------------- (2)
Compare this equation with the straight line equation : y = mx + c
It follows from equation (2) that V0 versus ′𝜐′ graph is a straight line as shown in following figure.

ℎ
Clearly from the graph of V0 vs. ‘𝜐’ the slope =
𝑒
To determine the slope, take two points A and B on the straight line graph, then
The Planck’s constant is h = e x ( slope of graph )
𝜙0
Moreover the intercept on vertical axis =
𝑒
The work function is given by : 𝜙0 = e x ( magnitude of the intercept on vertical axis )

WAVE NATURE OF MATTER

de-Broglie Hypothesis :
According to de-Broglie, every moving particle is associated with a wave which controls the particle in every respect.
The wave associated with a moving particle is called matter wave or de-Broglie wave. De Broglie proposed that the
ℎ
wavelength of a material particle would be related to its momentum in the same way as for a photon (i.e. 𝑝 = 𝜆). That
is for a particle of mass m moving with speed v, the de-Broglie wavelength is given by;
𝒉
where h = Planck’s constant
𝝀=
𝒎𝒗
Derivation of de Broglie wavelength : According to Planck’s quantum theory, the energy of a photon of radiation of
frequency v and wavelength λ is given by;
ℎ𝑐
𝐸 = ℎ𝑣 = ----------------------- (i) where h = Planck’s constant
𝜆
If photon is considered as a particle of mass ‘m’ then according to Einstein's energy-mass relation, the energy E of the
photon is 𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐 2 ------------------------ (ii) where c = velocity of light
ℎ𝑐
Since the energy of the photon in the two cases is the same, .’. 𝜆
= 𝑚𝑐 2
ℎ
This gives wavelength of photon as : 𝜆= 𝑚𝑐
The quantity ‘mc’ is the momentum ‘p’ of the photon having mass ‘m’ and travelling with velocity ‘c’, therefore the
ℎ
wavelength is 𝜆= ----------------------- (iii)
𝑝
De Broglie proposed that eq. (iii) is completely a general formula and is applicable to photon as well as other moving
particles. Thus if a particle has mass m and moves with a velocity v, its momentum is ‘mv’. The wavelength of the wave
associated with this moving particle is given by;
This is de Broglie wave equation for a material particle.
Some facts: The following points may be noted about matter waves or *pilot waves:
ℎ
(i) 𝜆 = Therefore If v = 0, λ = ∞ and if v = ∞ , λ = 0.
𝑚𝑣
This implies that matter waves are associated with material particles only if they are in motion.
(ii) The greater the momentum of the particle, the shorter is the wavelength and vice-versa.
(iii) De Broglie wavelength of a particle is independent of the charge or nature of the particle.

De-Broglie Wavelength of an Electron :

Suppose an electron at rest has been accelerated through a potential difference of V volts and gains a velocity v. If m
and ‘e’ are the mass and charge of electron respectively, then,
Work done on electron = e V
1
K.E. gained by electron = 2 𝑚𝑣 2
By work-energy theorem, K.E. gained by electron = work done on electron
1
.’. 𝑚𝑣 2 = 𝑒𝑉
2
2𝑒𝑉
That gives velocity of electron as v = √
𝑚
ℎ ℎ
If  is de-Broglie wavelength associated with electron, then 𝜆= =
𝑚𝑣 √2𝑚𝑒𝑉
12.27
Substituting the values we get the wavelength of the electron as : 𝜆= Ȧ
√𝑉

Davisson and Germer Experiment :

The wave nature of electrons was first experimentally
verified by C.J. Davisson and L.H. Germer in 1927,
the experimental arrangement used by Davisson and
Germer is schematically shown in figure here.
Davison-Germer experiment confirms
the wave nature of electrons
and the de-Broglie relation.

The experiment was performed by varying the accelerating voltage from 44 V to 68 V. It was noticed that a strong peak
appeared in the intensity (I) of the scattered electron for an accelerating voltage of 54V at a scattering angle θ = 50º The
appearance of the peak in a particular direction is due to the constructive interference of electrons scattered from
different layers of the regularly spaced atoms of the crystals.
The maximum intensity at accelerating potential of 54 volts and for θ = 50° is due to constructive interference (a
phenomenon reserved only for waves) of electrons scattered from different layers of regularly spaced atoms of the
crystal (also referred to as Diffraction)
According to Bragg’s law, for first order diffraction maximum (n = 1), λ = 2d sinθ
where d = spacing between adjacent atomic planes, λ = wavelength associated with the wave (electron)
For nickel crystal, d = 0.91 Å
.’. λ = 2 × 0.91 sin 65° = 1.65 Å
This is the wavelength of electron found experimentally. Now applying de-Broglie wave equation, the wavelength of
12.27 12.27
electron having 54 V energy is given by 𝜆 = Ȧ = Ȧ = 1.66 Å
√𝑉 √54
Thus, there is an excellent agreement between the theoretical value and the experimentally obtained value of de-Broglie
wavelength. Davisson-Germer experiment thus confirms the wave nature of electrons and the de Broglie relation.

By: Darshan Lal

9413577562