How do we know the energy of a photon (light particle) is quantised?

Firstly, quantisation of energy means that energy can only exist for specific, discrete values, i.e. it is not continuous. Now, photons display this phenomena however it is not immediately obvious why, as in classical physics, we observe that light acts as a wave. To understand how the we know these particles are quantised we have to investigate a some practical examples. One of these examples is called the photoelectric effect. This is where a electromagnetic radiation (light) is incident on a metal. This causes electrons to become excited and thus jump out of the metal under certain conditions. However as the intensity of the light increases the energy of the electrons does not, leading us to believe that the light is not behaving as a classical wave as first thought. Furthermore, we observe that no electrons are emitted if the frequency of the light is below a certain value, called the work function. These two observations lead us to draw the conclusion that light, in this experiment, is acting a particles of discrete energy.

BM
Answered by Ben M. Physics tutor

2820 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

Why do gravitational fields around point masses obey an inverse square law?


From the 2016 OCR B paper A ball is thrown at an angle of 30 Degrees to the horizontal. The initial kinetic energy of the ball is K. Air resistance is negligible. What is the kinetic energy of the ball at the maximum height.


Derive an expression to show that for satellites in a circular orbit T^2 ∝ r^3 where T is the period of orbit and r is the radius of the orbit.


Derive I = nAVe


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning