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The minimum value of electric field required to pulled out electrons from a metal is approximately ______ V/cm.

Asked in GUJCET 2025 · Conceptual points of the photoelectric effect

Answer: (2) 10⁶

Step-by-step solution

Idea: a strong enough electric field can drag electrons straight out of a cold metal (field emission), and NCERT puts the field needed at the order of 10⁸ V m⁻¹.

Watch the unit: this question asks for the answer in V/cm, not in V m⁻¹.

A centimetre is a hundredth of a metre, so the same field spans a hundred times fewer volts per centimetre than per metre.

10⁸ V m⁻¹ = (10⁸)/(100) V/cm = 10⁶ V/cm

So the minimum field is about 10⁶ V/cm.

Why the other options are wrong

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