photoelectric effect

American  

noun

Physics.

1. the phenomenon in which the absorption of electromagnetic radiation, as light, of sufficiently high frequency by a surface, usually metallic, induces the emission of electrons from the surface.

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photoelectric effect British  

noun

1. the ejection of electrons from a solid by an incident beam of sufficiently energetic electromagnetic radiation

2. any phenomenon involving electricity and electromagnetic radiation, such as photoemission

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photoelectric effect Scientific  

1. The emission of electrons from a material, such as a metal, as a result of being struck by photons. Some substances, such as selenium, are particularly susceptible to this effect. The photoelectric effect is used in photoelectric and solar cells to create an electric potential.

2. Also called photoemission

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photoelectric effect Cultural  

1. The emission of electrons from a metal when light shines on it. The effect is widely used to convert a light signal into an electric current (see also current).

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Etymology

Origin of photoelectric effect

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

They have named this the photomolecular effect, by analogy with the photoelectric effect that was discovered by Heinrich Hertz in 1887 and finally explained by Albert Einstein in 1905.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2024

This equation, due to Einstein in 1905, explains the properties of the photoelectric effect quantitatively.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Is the photoelectric effect a direct consequence of the wave character of EM radiation or of the particle character of EM radiation?

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

As Einstein explained, all characteristics of the photoelectric effect are due to the interaction of individual photons with individual electrons.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The project neatly combined work each had been doing previously—Lawrence’s research under Swann into the photoelectric effect in gas vapor and Beams’s investigation of short-lived physical phenomena.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik