Where do the electrons go?

[EiNsTeiN]

Although I have been learning physics for along time, and although I'm studying electrical engineering right now, but I still have a fundamental question which I couldnt answer...

In photo electric and thermionic emissions, do the electrons liberate till the end of time or what??
Doesn't make sense... Then why do the electrons seem not to finish from a material?
They are librated all the time and gone away, but the material never finishes its electrons!!

Does anyone have an explanation?

 

[EiNsTeiN]

Hey, anyone interested in physics??

 

[Rough_ER]

Hey, anyone interested in physics??

My dad's a nuclear physicist, I'm sure he will be able to sort you out. He's in Saudi Arabia at the moment though so I'll ask him when he gets back and see if he can clear this up for you.

x

 

[EiNsTeiN]

My dad's a nuclear physicist, I'm sure he will be able to sort you out. He's in Saudi Arabia at the moment though so I'll ask him when he gets back and see if he can clear this up for you.

x

Your Dad is in Saudi Arabia??
I was there one week ago...

Try asking him please, and thanks for concerning

 

[Francine]

In photo electric and thermionic emissions, do the electrons liberate till the end of time or what??

The electrons are liberated from a material, and that makes the material positive in respect to earth ground. If you have a wire from ground to your material, you get a flow of current, and you can make this current do useful work.

 

[Scuba Pete]

These short answers are full of negativity! You're in luck as I am well grounded in this theory. I am positive I can lend some assistance.

Mostly, only surface electrons are displaced only to be locked back in place once the tension has been satisfied (equilibrium).

If the energy source is a battery, then there are a number of surplus electrons on one end, like a lake and a place where they can accumulate (a valley or the ocean). As a surplus molecule is released it travels only until the tension is satisfied or when it reaches the accumulation zone (positive end of a battery).

 

[Comet]

These short answers are full of negativity! You're in luck as I am well grounded in this theory. I am positive I can lend some assistance.

Ha ha ha.... frubals for that!

I only deal with radio-activity, which electrons can be a part of. So, I might confuse the situation more.

 

[yossarian22]

Although I have been learning physics for along time, and although I'm studying electrical engineering right now, but I still have a fundamental question which I couldnt answer...

In photo electric and thermionic emissions, do the electrons liberate till the end of time or what??
Doesn't make sense... Then why do the electrons seem not to finish from a material?
They are librated all the time and gone away, but the material never finishes its electrons!![/quote]
I am a bit confused by your questions.
Do you mean that an electron is generated and never returned?
That is a simple one to answer. (although drawings help much more)

In essence, a photo electric emitter is little more than a battery. You apply light to generate voltage instead of utilizing an oxidation/reduction reaction.
Now your photo electric emitter must hooked up to a circuit (the type of circuit does not matter). When you apply light to your emitter, you give an electron enough energy to leave the emitter and into the circuit. The circuit has electrons in its wiring and loads, and these electrons are repelled by that electron. That electron you emitted bumps another electron down the circuit, which bumps another, and so on and so forth. This continues until an electron from the circuit enters the photo electric emitter, returning it to a neutral charge. All this happens almost instantaneously.
So no, the emitter never really gets its electron back, but it gets another to replace it,
If that was not your question, could you please clarify?