- #1
TrickyDicky
- 3,507
- 27
What exactly in the photoelectric and Compton effects can't be explained with the wave model of radiation?
For instance in the photoelectric effect, why the fact that the energy of the electrons emited from a material after being subjected to certain radiation depends only on the frequency of the EM radiation and not on its intensity is not expected of a wave?
I mean if a EM wave carries momentum, wouldn't conservation of momentum and energy considerations make the outcome of the interaction between the EM wave and the bound electron depend on the energies of the electron and the EM wave and their respective momenta?, being the momentum of the EM wave: p=hf/c and therefore proportional to its frequency just as its energy=nhf is also proportional to the radiation frequency.
For instance in the photoelectric effect, why the fact that the energy of the electrons emited from a material after being subjected to certain radiation depends only on the frequency of the EM radiation and not on its intensity is not expected of a wave?
I mean if a EM wave carries momentum, wouldn't conservation of momentum and energy considerations make the outcome of the interaction between the EM wave and the bound electron depend on the energies of the electron and the EM wave and their respective momenta?, being the momentum of the EM wave: p=hf/c and therefore proportional to its frequency just as its energy=nhf is also proportional to the radiation frequency.