Final answer:
The correct equation is E = KE + IE, which relates the energy of light photons to the kinetic energy of emitted electrons and ionization energy. E represents the photon's energy, KE is the kinetic energy of the electron, and IE is the ionization energy necessary to remove an electron from an atom.
Step-by-step explanation:
The equation representing the relationship between the energy of light photons, kinetic energy of an emitted electron, and ionization energy is given by E = KE + IE, where E is the energy of the incident photon, KE is the kinetic energy of the emitted electron, and IE is the ionization energy of the atom or molecule. The equation for the energy of a photon is E = hf, where E is energy, h is Planck's constant, and f is the frequency of the photon.
The photoelectric effect illustrates this relationship. When a material is irradiated with sufficiently high frequency light, photons impart energy to electrons. If the photon has enough energy (> IE), it can knock an electron out of the material, with the excess energy becoming the electron's kinetic energy. Thus, the equation E = KE + IE captures the conservation of energy in this process, with E provided by an individual photon of energy hf, KE being the kinetic energy of the ejected electron, and IE being the minimum energy required to remove the electron from the atom.