Final answer:
Einstein used the equation e = hv to explain the photoelectric effect, representing the energy of a photon with quantized energy proportional to the frequency of light.
Step-by-step explanation:
The equation used by Albert Einstein to explain the photoelectric effect is e = hv, which is the second option in the given choices. In this equation, e represents the energy of a photon, h is Planck's constant, and v is the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation. This equation reflects the relationship between the energy of a photon and the frequency of the light associated with it. It's crucial to note that Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect was groundbreaking because it provided evidence for the particle nature of light, showing that light can be thought of as a stream of particles, known as photons, which have quantized energy.