Photo-electric effect was first discovered by

Concept:

• The photoelectric effect:
  • It is a phenomenon in which electrically charged particles are emitted from a material when electromagnetic radiation of suitable wavelength falls on the surface of a metal.
  • When electromagnetic radiation hits a material, electrons are emitted, this effect is known as the Photoelectric effect.
  • Electrons emitted in this manner are called photo-electrons.

• Max Kinetic energy of these photo-electrons is given by:

• K.E.max = hc/λ - ϕ 

• where h is the Planck constant f is the frequency of the incident light or electromagnetic radiation. The term ϕ is the work function. 

Explanation:

• The photoelectric effect was discovered by German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz in 1887.
• He made this discovery while working on radio waves.

•  The phenomenon of the photoelectric effect was discovered by Heinrich Hertz in the year 1887. 
• The work on the photoelectric effect was later done by J.J.Thompson. 
• In 1905, Einstein proposed a theory of the photoelectric effect using a concept first put forward by Max Planck that light consists of tiny packets of energy known as photons or light quanta.