A “cost-effective” approach for the photoelectric effect experiment.

Abstract

[EN] A novel approach to investigating the photoelectric effect is proposed, it is affordable and accessible for any typical school laboratory. This cost-efficient measurement, using a series of digital multimeters, normally available in all the schools, facilitates the understanding of the photoelectric effect but also encourages creative problem-solving attitude among students and democratizes the access to quality physics education. By embracing this approach, schools which lack funds for expensive instrumentations can enrich their physics curriculum ensuring that every student has the opportunity to test the quantum nature of photons. The results of photoelectric effect measurements with this “cost-effective” approach, made by the students of the Liceo Scientifico Leondardo da Vinci of Trento, are presented. The inferred values of the Planck constant and of the work function are compatible with the ones obtained using the standard approach involving an “expensive” Galvanometer.