Question

Which of the following is dependent on the intensity of incident radiation in a photoelectric experiment?
A. work function of the surface.
B. Amount of photoelectric current
C. Stopping potential will be reduced
D. maximum kinetic energy of photoelectrons

Answer 1

Hint: When light is made to fall on the surface of a metal, the electrons are ejected from the surface. This process of ejection of electrons is known as the photoelectric effect and the electrons ejected are known as photoelectrons.

Complete step by step solution:
The amount or the number of electrons ejected from the metal surface depends on the intensity of the incident light. Intensity is defined as the number of electrons ejected per unit second of time. The photoelectric effect varies directly with the intensity. The more the intensity of light, the more will be the number of electrons that will be ejected from the metal surface.

On the other hand, if the threshold frequency is equal to the intensity of incident light, then there will be ejection of electrons. The electrons will have zero kinetic energy in that case. Therefore, the amount of photoelectric current depends on the intensity of incident light rays in the photoelectric effect.

Hence, option B is the correct answer.

Note: It is important to remember that the total energy of the system in photoelectric remains conserved. This means that the law of conservation of energy is followed in the photoelectric effect. If the total energy of the incident radiation is more than that of threshold frequency then the photoelectric effect will not take place. If it is less than the threshold frequency, the electrons will be ejected with very less kinetic energy. If it is equal to the threshold frequency, there will be zero photoelectric effect.