Dictionary

photo effect

When light shines onto a metal, it can knock electrons out of the metal’s atoms. This is the photoelectric effect, and its properties – how does the number and energy of the electrons depend on the frequency and intensity of the light? – can only be explained if one accepts that light is no mere electromagnetic wave, but somehow made up of some kind of light particles. With this postulate, Einstein, in 1905, paved the way for the later development of quantum mechanics.