How Things Work: A Brief History of Reality
Book II: The Power of Three (#50 "The Photoelectric Effect" - Part 2)
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Tuesday, September 6 , 2022
“It was basic research in the photoelectric field-in the photoelectric effect that would one day lead to solar panels. It was basic research in physics that would eventually produce the CAT scan. The calculations of today's GPS satellites are based on the equations that Einstein put to paper more than a century ago.”
— Barack Obama
CONSIDERATION #50 – “The Photoelectric Effect” Part Two
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
To understand the significance of Einstein’s discovery related to light, you must first clearly understand the distinction between intensity and frequency. This is something we discuss in some detail in Book IV “The Cosmic Symphony – Overtones of String Theory.” However, for now, I want to utilize a simple “apple to apple” analogy related to sound-waves, that while not perfect, is a very good comparison for this scenario.
Intensity is related to power and strength. Therefore, intensity represents a measurement related to how strong or powerful something is. For example, if we turn up the volume, or intensity, of sound; we get more of that sound. It is louder. If we turn up a variable light bulb, we get more light; it is brighter. Intensity can be either increased or decreased without changing the inherent qualities of the sound, or light, itself. You just get “more” or “less” of it. Frequency, however, is a completely different matter.
“Specific frequencies affect specific factors of reality specifically related to those frequencies.”
Frequency, unlike intensity, involves a specific change in the wave itself. Frequency involves specificity. Specific frequencies affect specific factors of reality specifically related to those frequencies. You can’t “increase” or “decrease” frequency, but you can change frequency. Frequency affects physical matter in ways that intensity does not. This is true for both sound-waves and light waves.
Intensity can build up over time. If you keep adding water to a cup the water increases until the cup overflows. The more water added, the greater the intensity of the overflow. If you increase the amount of electricity beyond the limits of its infrastructure it will blow out the system; the intensity of electricity overpowering its capacity. The pressure in a “pressure cooker” can build up to the point that the pressure becomes so intense it explodes. The physical effect of intensity tends to be a result based on its degree.
“Just as specific sound frequencies could affect matter at the physical level, such as shattering a crystal glass; specific frequencies of light could dislodge electrons from specific material related to that light’s frequency.”
Frequency, on the other hand, cannot build up over time. If the frequency of a tuning fork is A=440 Hz, which is a specific frequency producing the note “A” on the piano. You can increase or decrease its volume, or intensity, but it is still vibrating at 440 Hz per second. However, frequency can have a very power effect on physical matter. This is what Einstein discovered. Just as specific sound frequencies could affect matter at the physical level, such as shattering a crystal glass; specific frequencies of light could dislodge electrons from specific material related to that light’s frequency. The key to understanding how waves work to affect the physical world had to do with their frequency and not their intensity.
This simple shift in understanding changed everything.
CONSIDERATION #50 – The Photoelectric Effect – Part Two
“I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious."
― Albert Einstein
According to classical electromagnetism, continuous light waves were responsible for transferring energy to electrons. At some point, enough energy should be accumulated to dislodge and emit an electron from the material exposed to light or radiation. Changing the light’s intensity should result in a change in the kinetic energy of the emitted electrons. Even low-intensity dim light should eventually accumulate enough energy to emit an electron from the material being illuminated.
However, experiments showed that this was, in fact, not what was happening. Instead, it revealed that electrons were dislodged and emitted only when the light met, or exceeded, a specific frequency related to the material being used, and was not affected by either the light’s intensity or duration. It was as if the electrons were being struck and “knocked” out of place by another particle of equal or greater energy. Einstein proposed that what we see as a beam of light is not a wave propagating through space, but instead a stream of discrete energy “packets” he called photons.
“This analogy reflects the idea of photons as a particle, essentially acting like boulders, at the atomic level.”
Imagine a large boulder. Shining a flashlight on the boulder will not move it (waves). Using an even brighter flashlight would not make any difference (increased intensity). If you threw a small rock at the boulder and hit it, the boulder would not move at all (not enough energy in the particle). If you threw a handful of rocks at the boulder it still would have no effect (still not enough energy). You would need a boulder the same size, or larger, to be propelled against it to actually dislodge and move it (increased energy). If you had a larger boulder, traveling at high speed, it would have enough energy to completely lift and emit the target boulder into space. This analogy reflects the idea of photons as a particle, essentially acting like boulders, at the atomic level. However, it is important to remember that unlike the boulder, a photon also has the characteristics of a wave, making it an extremely unique entity.
Einstein used Planck’s Constant to show that quanta, or light, was a particle, which he defined as a photon. The energy carried by each photon is dependent on a light’s frequency. When a photon strikes an electron, it must have enough energy, or the electron will not be discharged and emitted from its material. If the photon’s energy exceeds the energy necessary to dislodge the electron, the excess energy is transferred to the electron as kinetic energy. This energy is based on the waves frequency.
“Maxwell’s electro-magnetic view of light had been expanded to include a new understanding of light as photo-electric.”
A photon is essentially a non-continuous discrete “wave packet” or “wave particle” that possesses the characteristics of both a particle and a wave simultaneously. Maxwell’s electro-magnetic view of light had been expanded to include a new understanding of light as photo-electric. Einstein’s wave-particle duality of light allowed scientists to acknowledge, maintain, and support the results of classical physics while simultaneously opening the door for the emerging new science of quantum physics.
Einstein’s revolutionary realization that the quanta, or photons, were not a characteristic of the atom, but a characteristic of light itself, changed not only how we came to see our world; it changed the way we came to see the entire universe.
POSTSCRIPT
The key to Einstein’s insight was that he recognized that at the basic quantum level light was a wave. However, it was not a continuous wave, as had been previously argued. Einstein’s waves were contained in discrete packets of “quantum waves” essentially functioning as “wave packets” or “wave particles” capable of behaving like waves and particles. These “wave particles,” or what Einstein termed “photons,” manifested the frequency aspects of waves, because they were waves. However, they also manifested the solid physical aspects of particles because the waves were contained in “condensed packets” that had the same effect as particles. Einstein had taken the first step in explaining the wave-particle paradox.
“The microscope connects the journey from classical physics to quantum physics better than any other analogy I can think of.”
Now that we have reached the quantum level of the photon things are about to change. When dealing in the quantum reality trying to describe it in “words” often breaks down. To understand how, and why, this happens we will begin a two-part consideration of the microscope. The microscope connects the journey from classical physics to quantum physics better than any other analogy I can think of. Understanding the history of the microscope will connect a lot of physical and metaphysical dots related to modern science.
Next week “A Brief History of the Microscope” Part One.
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