Did you know that we have 1921 physics laureate Albert Einstein to thank for our smartphone cameras?
Learn more about how the photoelectric effect has shaped technologies:
https://www.nobelprize.org/stories/photoelectric-effect/
Learn more about how the photoelectric effect has shaped technologies:
https://www.nobelprize.org/stories/photoelectric-effect/
Why we should thank Einstein for our smartphone cameras - NobelPrize.org
Learn more about how the photoelectric effect has shaped technologies such as burglar alarms, solar panels and the camera in your smartphone.
www.nobelprize.org
August 27, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Did you know that we have 1921 physics laureate Albert Einstein to thank for our smartphone cameras?
Learn more about how the photoelectric effect has shaped technologies:
https://www.nobelprize.org/stories/photoelectric-effect/
Learn more about how the photoelectric effect has shaped technologies:
https://www.nobelprize.org/stories/photoelectric-effect/
I love renewable energy tech because it's either "use quantum mechanics and semiconductor physics to leverage the photoelectric effect" or "put three spinny things on a stick"
August 1, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I love renewable energy tech because it's either "use quantum mechanics and semiconductor physics to leverage the photoelectric effect" or "put three spinny things on a stick"
<sits up> Oh no. I referred back to general relativity when I meant the photoelectric effect. The Oppenheimer podcast is RUINED.
April 24, 2024 at 9:43 PM
<sits up> Oh no. I referred back to general relativity when I meant the photoelectric effect. The Oppenheimer podcast is RUINED.
A lot of people booed when Dylan went photoelectric at the 2064 Newport Folk Festival
December 1, 2023 at 11:56 PM
A lot of people booed when Dylan went photoelectric at the 2064 Newport Folk Festival
This is the first paper from Einstein’s “Miraculous Year,” when he explained the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, and special relativity. It was the work on the photoelectric effect that was singled out sixteen years later in his Nobel citation.
March 17, 2025 at 3:37 PM
This is the first paper from Einstein’s “Miraculous Year,” when he explained the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, and special relativity. It was the work on the photoelectric effect that was singled out sixteen years later in his Nobel citation.
I don't think the students are as excited about the photoelectric effect as I am or the 1921 Nobel Prize Committee were
September 10, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I don't think the students are as excited about the photoelectric effect as I am or the 1921 Nobel Prize Committee were
This year is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. To celebrate, we are republishing stories on the history of quantum physics from our archives.
Quantum Milestones, 1905: Einstein and the Photoelectric Effect
In one of his annus mirabilis papers, Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by considering light as a stream of energy quanta—which were later called photons.
physics.aps.org
January 23, 2025 at 4:24 PM
This year is the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. To celebrate, we are republishing stories on the history of quantum physics from our archives.
"Get a photoelectric smoke detector" they told me. "It's better than ionization detectors" they told me.
You know what they didn't tell me? It'd have a red light flash every 30 fucking seconds 🚨
And unlike most electronics, I don't want to just put opaque tape over the light 🤬
You know what they didn't tell me? It'd have a red light flash every 30 fucking seconds 🚨
And unlike most electronics, I don't want to just put opaque tape over the light 🤬
September 24, 2026 at 5:44 AM
"Get a photoelectric smoke detector" they told me. "It's better than ionization detectors" they told me.
You know what they didn't tell me? It'd have a red light flash every 30 fucking seconds 🚨
And unlike most electronics, I don't want to just put opaque tape over the light 🤬
You know what they didn't tell me? It'd have a red light flash every 30 fucking seconds 🚨
And unlike most electronics, I don't want to just put opaque tape over the light 🤬
It's seriously been fucking with my sleep and I feel like the extra protection isn't worth a red flash every 30 seconds in my bedroom. Maybe I'll use them in the rest of the house and use ionization detectors in the bedroom? Or maybe there's non-flashing photoelectric detectors?
September 24, 2026 at 5:44 AM
It's seriously been fucking with my sleep and I feel like the extra protection isn't worth a red flash every 30 seconds in my bedroom. Maybe I'll use them in the rest of the house and use ionization detectors in the bedroom? Or maybe there's non-flashing photoelectric detectors?
The 'Clementina', Argentina's first computer, a Ferranti Mercury mainframe named for its demo program that played "My Darling Clementine." Installed 1961, and effectively destroyed in Onganía's Night of Long Batons in 1966.
September 24, 2026 at 6:05 PM
The 'Clementina', Argentina's first computer, a Ferranti Mercury mainframe named for its demo program that played "My Darling Clementine." Installed 1961, and effectively destroyed in Onganía's Night of Long Batons in 1966.
#RECALL: LShome Photoelectric Smoke Detector Fire Alarms. If the sensing threshold of security warnings is set too high, the alarm might not sound in a timely manner, posing a fire hazard. Get refund. www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026...
February 12, 2026 at 3:52 PM
#RECALL: LShome Photoelectric Smoke Detector Fire Alarms. If the sensing threshold of security warnings is set too high, the alarm might not sound in a timely manner, posing a fire hazard. Get refund. www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026...
If one is going to build data centers, roof them all with photoelectric panels and require 100% water recycling.
August 14, 2026 at 2:01 PM
If one is going to build data centers, roof them all with photoelectric panels and require 100% water recycling.
German Abitur Physics: Photoelectric Effect & Quantum Waves
Master German Abitur Physics on the photoelectric effect, Einstein's photon hypothesis, stopping potential experiments, and de Broglie matter waves with exam rubrics.
Master German Abitur Physics on the photoelectric effect, Einstein's photon hypothesis, stopping potential experiments, and de Broglie matter waves with exam rubrics.
German Abitur Physics: Photoelectric Effect & Quantum Waves
Master German Abitur Physics on the photoelectric effect, Einstein's photon hypothesis, stopping potential experiments, and de Broglie matter waves with exam rubrics.
thebrokencap.wordpress.com
September 27, 2026 at 4:02 AM
German Abitur Physics: Photoelectric Effect & Quantum Waves
Master German Abitur Physics on the photoelectric effect, Einstein's photon hypothesis, stopping potential experiments, and de Broglie matter waves with exam rubrics.
Master German Abitur Physics on the photoelectric effect, Einstein's photon hypothesis, stopping potential experiments, and de Broglie matter waves with exam rubrics.
Day 2 of #QM1 in the books. Of course I am going much slower than anticipated, so it was today that we actually zoomed through some historical motivation: Blackbody radiation, photoelectric effect, Rutherford/Bohr atoms, de Broglie waves. Made a tentative step toward the Schrödinger equation.
August 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Day 2 of #QM1 in the books. Of course I am going much slower than anticipated, so it was today that we actually zoomed through some historical motivation: Blackbody radiation, photoelectric effect, Rutherford/Bohr atoms, de Broglie waves. Made a tentative step toward the Schrödinger equation.
#Taiwan celebrates the centennial birth of quantum mechanics with a postal #stamp featuring everyone's favorite hypothetical #cat. The 4-stamp set:
- Blackbody Radiation, Photoelectric Effect
- Compton Effect, Bohr's Atomic Model
- Wave Packet, Schrödinger's Cat
- Quantum Bit, Quantum Communication
- Blackbody Radiation, Photoelectric Effect
- Compton Effect, Bohr's Atomic Model
- Wave Packet, Schrödinger's Cat
- Quantum Bit, Quantum Communication
February 13, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Albert Einstein was a founding father of quantum theory, not just its critic, by introducing the concept of light quanta (photons) in 1905 to explain the photoelectric effect.
Other founding fathers, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, and Wolfgang Pauli among others.
Other founding fathers, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, and Wolfgang Pauli among others.
March 8, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Albert Einstein was a founding father of quantum theory, not just its critic, by introducing the concept of light quanta (photons) in 1905 to explain the photoelectric effect.
Other founding fathers, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, and Wolfgang Pauli among others.
Other founding fathers, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, and Wolfgang Pauli among others.
This is wrong.
It was Einstein who came up with the concept of light quanta not Planck. In 1905, he used them to explain the photoelectric effect, for which he eventually got the Nobel Prize. And the term photon was coined only in 1926, by the chemist Gilbert Lewis.
It was Einstein who came up with the concept of light quanta not Planck. In 1905, he used them to explain the photoelectric effect, for which he eventually got the Nobel Prize. And the term photon was coined only in 1926, by the chemist Gilbert Lewis.
October 25, 2025 at 3:09 PM
This is wrong.
It was Einstein who came up with the concept of light quanta not Planck. In 1905, he used them to explain the photoelectric effect, for which he eventually got the Nobel Prize. And the term photon was coined only in 1926, by the chemist Gilbert Lewis.
It was Einstein who came up with the concept of light quanta not Planck. In 1905, he used them to explain the photoelectric effect, for which he eventually got the Nobel Prize. And the term photon was coined only in 1926, by the chemist Gilbert Lewis.
those edge cases are:
1) speed of light in a vacuum
2) blackbody radiation
3) photoelectric effect
turns out figuring out how those weird exceptions worked completely changed everything about physics
and so many incorrect things were proposed along the way, all steps towards learning
1) speed of light in a vacuum
2) blackbody radiation
3) photoelectric effect
turns out figuring out how those weird exceptions worked completely changed everything about physics
and so many incorrect things were proposed along the way, all steps towards learning
September 27, 2026 at 3:22 PM
those edge cases are:
1) speed of light in a vacuum
2) blackbody radiation
3) photoelectric effect
turns out figuring out how those weird exceptions worked completely changed everything about physics
and so many incorrect things were proposed along the way, all steps towards learning
1) speed of light in a vacuum
2) blackbody radiation
3) photoelectric effect
turns out figuring out how those weird exceptions worked completely changed everything about physics
and so many incorrect things were proposed along the way, all steps towards learning
Here is a Photoelectric Effect simulator. I hope you find it useful
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
www.drjonesphysics.com/pe-effect
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
www.drjonesphysics.com/pe-effect
May 1, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Here is a Photoelectric Effect simulator. I hope you find it useful
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
www.drjonesphysics.com/pe-effect
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
www.drjonesphysics.com/pe-effect
Two experimenters - Adams and Day - are credited with discovering the photoelectric effect, which is explicitly that materials struck by light can drive a current. They of course had no idea what was happening - but via the scientific method were able to isolate a cause and “photoelectric” effect.
November 23, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Two experimenters - Adams and Day - are credited with discovering the photoelectric effect, which is explicitly that materials struck by light can drive a current. They of course had no idea what was happening - but via the scientific method were able to isolate a cause and “photoelectric” effect.
Just came back from writing physics and honestly it was pretty good except for circuits and the last photoelectric effect question fuck those two
November 7, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Just came back from writing physics and honestly it was pretty good except for circuits and the last photoelectric effect question fuck those two
#CNRSnews 📰 2025 marks the 120th anniversary of Einstein’s “miraculous year”, when he initiated quantum mechanics by explaining the photoelectric effect and introducing the idea that light is made up of quanta ⚛️
1905: Einstein initiates the quantum age
news.cnrs.fr
July 11, 2025 at 2:10 PM
#CNRSnews 📰 2025 marks the 120th anniversary of Einstein’s “miraculous year”, when he initiated quantum mechanics by explaining the photoelectric effect and introducing the idea that light is made up of quanta ⚛️
Gravitons are supposed to be the quantum particles that carry the gravitational force, but no-one's ever detected any. Scientists in the US and Sweden have proposed a new experiment inspired by the photoelectric effect that could remedy that – eventually. 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/century-ol...
Century-old photoelectric effect inspires a new search for quantum gravity – Physics World
Proposed experiment could demonstrate absorption and emission of individual gravitons
physicsworld.com
October 18, 2024 at 3:24 PM
Gravitons are supposed to be the quantum particles that carry the gravitational force, but no-one's ever detected any. Scientists in the US and Sweden have proposed a new experiment inspired by the photoelectric effect that could remedy that – eventually. 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/century-ol...