On this day in physics: 17 March 1803- Happy birthday to Carl Jacob Lowig, who was a German chemist who discovered bromine, which he did independently of scientist Antoine Jerome Ballard (more on this in the quote of the day.
Word of the Day- The work function is the energy which binds an electron to its atom. The work function is the minimum amount of energy needed to free an electron from the shackles of a solid. This ties in with the photoelectric effect because the frequency needed or energy needed from the light must be at minimum equal to the work function of the solid and we can test this by just doing the photoelectric effect experiment, and varying the light until we start seeing the effect. There is a monster table somewhere which has the work function for pretty much any solid you could ever want. Lastly, the unit of the work function is the Joule, which makes sense since it relates to the amount of energy.
Quote of the Day: "Balard did not discover bromine, but rather bromine discovered Balard." Justus Von Liebig
Keywords: Work Function, Photoelectric Effect, Bromine, Balard, Lowig
