College Physics 10th Edition by Raymond Serway,Chris Vuille

Exercise 54

From the scattering of sunlight, J. J. Thomson calculated the classical radius of the electron as having the value 2.82 × 10 15 m. Sunlight with an intensity of 500 W/m 2 falls on a disk with this radius. Assume light is a classical wave and the light striking the disk is completely absorbed. (a) Calculate the time interval required to accumulate 1.00 eV of energy. (b) Explain how your result for part (a) compares with the observation that photoelectrons are emitted promptly (within 10 9 s).