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Definition of "photoelectric" [photoelectric]

  • Of or relating to the electric effects caused by light. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "photoelectric" in a sentence
  • "I took a beautiful course on statistical mechanics by L. Rosenfeld, did experimental work on noise in photoelectric detectors, and prepared the notes for a seminar on Brownian motion given by J.M.W. Milatz."
  • "In another paper written in 1905, Einstein gave an explanation of why certain metals had been observed to emit electrons when light shone upon them, an effect known as the photoelectric effect."
  • "(This effect, called the photoelectric effect, earned Albert Einstein a Nobel Prize in 1921.)"