What must be true for a photon interaction to occur with a tightly bound electron?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about the conditions necessary for a photon to interact with a tightly bound electron. It presents multiple choice answers that suggest different relationships between the kinetic energy (EK) of the electron and the energy of the photon.
Answer
The photon's energy must match or exceed the electron's binding energy.
The energy of the incident photon must be equal to or just greater than the binding energy of the tightly bound electron for the interaction to occur.
Answer for screen readers
The energy of the incident photon must be equal to or just greater than the binding energy of the tightly bound electron for the interaction to occur.
More Information
This is often observed in the context of the photoelectric effect, where the photon energy must align with the binding energy of the inner shell electrons, making interactions more probable.
Tips
A common mistake is to assume any photon can eject an electron; instead, the photon's energy must be specifically matched to the electron's binding energy.
Sources
- Photoelectric Effect - Radiopaedia - radiopaedia.org
- Interaction of Radiation with Matter - sprawls.org - sprawls.org
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