How the Universe Really Works! - The Photoelectric Effect in the Infinite Universe
The universe, across its spectrum of structures, behaves identically throughout. The small does not have separate and distinct mechanisms of operation compared to the large and vice versa, but rather all systems function the same. The photoelectric effect both literally and figuratively sheds light on this.
The Photoelectric Effect
The photoelectric effect "is the emission of electrons or other free carriers when light is shone to a material."
This emission of electrons by radiation requires the energy of the light to reach or exceed a threshold frequency. Below that level, no electrons are said to be emitted regardless of the light intensity or the length of time of exposure to the light.
Albert Einstein proposed that a beam of light, therefore, is not a wave but rather a collection of discrete packets (photons), each with energy hv, where h is Planck's constant and v is frequency.
In the case of negative electron affinity, the photoelectric effect requires photons with energies approaching zero. For core electrons in elements with a high atomic number, the photons can require over 1 MeV of energy.
Light in the Infinite Universe
The universe is infinite. You can read much more about this particularly in my other articles. This means that particles in the universe can be infinitely large or infinitely small, relative to atoms which--since we are observers composed of them--are arbitrarily in the "middle" of this structure. Sufficiently smaller particles are so relatively small that they reach a point where they no longer are observable as having a mass and they travel at the observed limit of motion of matter, termed the speed of light.
Different wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum are thereby waves made up of different masses of particles, in the same way as a wave in the ocean is made up of particles. Radio waves, microwaves, and infrared light are made up of relatively smaller particles than x-ray and gamma-ray light, for example.
So, when we shine a high energy radiation onto a surface, we are ultimately radiating the atoms of that surface with larger mass systems.
If a particle such as an electron has a given mass, then that particle will be affected by various lights differently. Low energy light will act as a gentle wind on the particle, as it is composed of lower masses and thereby their kinetic energy is lower, which is insufficient so as to cause the electron to be pushed out of the gravitational effects of the nucleus. High energy particles will act as a strong wind on the particle, able to push it effectively out of its orbit and to overcome the local gravitational influence of the nucleus so as to cause it to be photoelectrically emitted.
Dependent on the force of the "wind" of the light particles on the electron, when the energy is above the threshold frequency, it will have different degrees of kinetic energy.
This is why it is said that "electrons can absorb energy from photons when irradiated, but they usually follow an 'all or nothing' principle. All of the energy from one photon must be absorbed and used to liberate one electron from atomic binding, or else the energy is re-emitted. If the photon energy is absorbed, some of the energy liberates the electron from the atom, and the rest contributes to the electron's kinetic energy as a free particle." (As stated in the Wikipedia article)
For More Information
Check out my website CascadingUniverse.Org or my other articles here on Steemit for more information!
The universe can be proven to be infinite and having a very basic structure by the demonstration that electromagnetic fields are the result of gravity in the infinite universe. You can read about this topic, for example, here: Electromagnetism: A Result of Gravity or in my book, The Simple Reality.
Other Important Topics:
The Big Bang's Big Assumption
The Universe has Infinite Dimensions
The Observer Assumption
Black Holes are Optical Illusions
and many more can be found in my articles on Steemit!
Thanks for reading!