When light of a certain frequency is incident on a metal surface, no photoelectrons are emitted. If the frequency of the light is increased, what happens to...

When light of a certain frequency is incident on a metal surface, no photoelectrons are emitted. If the frequency of the light is increased, what happens to the stopping potential?

Answer Details

When light of a certain frequency is incident on a metal surface, no photoelectrons are emitted. This is because the energy of the photons in the light is not enough to overcome the work function of the metal, which is the minimum amount of energy required to remove an electron from the metal surface.
If the frequency of the light is increased, it means that the energy of the photons increases. This increase in energy means that there is now enough energy to overcome the work function of the metal. As a result, photoelectrons are now emitted from the metal surface.
Now, let's consider the stopping potential. The stopping potential is the minimum potential difference that needs to be applied across a pair of electrodes in order to stop the flow of photoelectrons from reaching the other electrode.
When the frequency of the light is increased, the energy of the photons also increases. This means that the photoelectrons have more kinetic energy when they are emitted from the metal surface. As a result, a higher stopping potential is required to stop the more energetic photoelectrons from reaching the other electrode.
Therefore, the stopping potential increases when the frequency of the light is increased.