Asked by kelvin calin
Aluminum has a frequency threshold of 9.846 × 1014 Hz. Which best explains what will happen when light with a frequency below the frequency threshold strikes aluminum?
Electrons will be ejected immediately.
No electrons will be ejected.
Electrons will start being ejected several seconds after the light strikes the aluminum.
No electrons will be ejected unless the intensity is very high.
All Answers 1
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
No electrons will be ejected.
Reason: each photon has energy E = hf. If the light's frequency is below the threshold, hf is less than the metal's work function, so no single photon can free an electron. Increasing intensity only increases the number of low-energy photons (not their energy), and there is no delay — electrons simply won't be emitted (except in special multiphoton processes at extremely high intensities, which are not implied here).
Reason: each photon has energy E = hf. If the light's frequency is below the threshold, hf is less than the metal's work function, so no single photon can free an electron. Increasing intensity only increases the number of low-energy photons (not their energy), and there is no delay — electrons simply won't be emitted (except in special multiphoton processes at extremely high intensities, which are not implied here).
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