Photoelectric effect: development of a quantitative experiment

Experimentation is an important aspect of activities related to teaching and learning physics. Although it can be discussed how it is implemented in the classroom, there is no doubt that experiments are relevant mediating objects in such activities. However, educational institutions have long struggled with acquiring experiments, both because of the increasing cuts of funding allocated to public schools and high cost of equipment available in the market. In view of these drawbacks and considering the need to better equip the physics laboratory of our institution, which offers a Physics Degree course, we elaborated a Project to develop experiments, focusing mainly on electromagnetism and modern physics. The experiments are designed to allow quantitative demonstrations of physical phenomena at a reduced cost compared to similar versions found in the market. In this work we discuss the construction of an experimental apparatus for the quantitative study of the photoelectric effect. We also present the results that can be achieved with this apparatus.

Keywords
Modern physics; photoelectric effect; lab instrumentation.