Detection of Light
. For each way of producing light there is a corresponding way of detecting it. Just as heat produces incandescent light, for example, light produces measurable heat when it is absorbed by a material. 1. Photoelectric Effect The photoelectric effect is a process in which an atom absorbs a photon that has so much energy that the photon sets one of the atom’s electrons free to move outside the atom. Part of the photon’s energy goes toward releasing the electron from the atom. This energy is called the activation energy of the electron. The rest of the photon’s energy is transferred to the released electron in the form of motion, or kinetic energy. Since the photon energy is proportional to frequency, the released electron, or photoelectron, moves faster when it has absorbed high-frequency light. Metals with low activation energies are used to make photodetectors and photoelectric cells whose electrical properties change in the presence of light. Solar cells use the photoelectric effect t...