photoelectric effect


nounPhysics.
  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.

Origin of photoelectric effect

1
First recorded in 1890–95

Words Nearby photoelectric effect

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use photoelectric effect in a sentence

  • Or there may be an inelastic collision, when the photon hits an atom and knocks out an electron—the old photoelectric effect.

    The Mercenaries | Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for photoelectric effect

photoelectric effect

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for photoelectric effect

photoelectric effect

  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. Also called photoemission

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for photoelectric effect

photoelectric effect

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).

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.