Question

In photoelectric effect when photons of energy $h v$ fall on a photosensitive surface (work function $h v_{0}$ ) electrons are emitted from the metallic surface. It is possible to say that

• A. All ejected electrons have same kinetic energy equal to $h v -h v _{0}$
• B. The ejected electrons have a distribution of kinetic energy from zero to $\left(h v-h v_{0}\right)$
• C. The most energetic electrons have kinetic energy equal to $h v$
• D. All ejected electrons have kinetic energy $h v_{0}$

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

$KE _{\max }=h v-h v_{0}$ and hence the energies of electrons can range anywhere between these values.