Final answer:
The kinetic energy of emitted photoelectrons does not depend on the intensity of incident light but on the frequency of the light. Higher intensity results in more electrons being ejected, but their kinetic energy remains unchanged unless the frequency is increased.
Step-by-step explanation:
The kinetic energy of emitted photoelectrons does not depend on the intensity of incident electromagnetic radiation. Instead, the kinetic energy depends on the frequency of the light. The photoelectric effect, first explained by Einstein, shows that when light of a certain frequency strikes a material, electrons are emitted with a kinetic energy that is proportional to that frequency, not the intensity of light. Therefore, increasing the intensity of light results in more electrons being ejected, but these electrons do not have higher kinetic energy unless the frequency of the light is increased. This experimental finding contradicted classical theory, which predicted that higher intensity should result in greater kinetic energy.
An increase in light intensity merely increases the number of photons, leading to more electrons being ejected. However, the maximum kinetic energy of the ejected electrons remains independent of the light intensity. This is because the energy provided to each electron comes from a single photon, and it's the energy of that photon, determined by its frequency, that dictates the kinetic energy of the ejected electron.