Question

Which of these was NOT a difficulty initially met in explaining the photoelectric effect?

a.	If light is a wave, its amplitude should have governed the energy imparted to electrons to cause their emission, and frequency should have had the effects it had.
b.	Increased intensity of the light did not increase the maximum kinetic energy of emitted electrons.
c.	Electrons could not escape from solid materials.
d.	Increased frequency of the light increased the maximum kinetic energy of the electrons.
e.	The transferred kinetic energy seemed to work too quickly.

Answer 1

Correct option is (b).

Research showed that the photoelectric effect represents an interaction between light and matter that cannot be explained by classical physics, which describes light as an electromagnetic wave. One inexplicable observation was that the maximum kinetic energy of the released electrons did not vary with the intensity of the light, as expected according to the wave theory, but was proportional instead of the frequency of the light.