Question

Albert Einstein got a Nobel Prize in physics for his work on:
(A) Special theory of relativity
(B) General theory of relativity
(C) Photoelectric effect
(D) Theory of specific heats

Answer 1

Hint: All the theories in the given options are proposed by Albert Einstein. Recall these theories year wise and identify in which theory Albert Einstein proved the particle nature of light. For the same theory he was awarded with the Nobel Prize, the most honorable award in the world.

Complete step by step answer:
-We know that special theory of relativity and general theory of relativity were proposed by Albert Einstein in 1905 and 1915 respectively. Also, the theory of specific heats is proposed by Albert Einstein in 1906. But none of these theories got a Nobel Prize for his extraordinary work.
-Albert Einstein got the Nobel Prize for photoelectric effect that he proposed in 1905 in the same year he proposed the special theory of relativity. The phenomenon of photoelectric effect is also observed by other scientists before Einstein, but none of them can explain the phenomenon with proper proof.

Additional information:
According to photoelectric effect, the metal emits electrons when the photon of certain energy incident on it. The energy of the incident photon should be greater than the binding energy of the electron in the atom. Therefore, we call the energy of the photon as threshold energy to emit the electron from the metal surface. The energy of the photon is express as,
\[\Delta E = h\nu \]
Here, h is the Planck’s constant and \[\nu \] is the frequency of the photon.
According to Einstein as he proposed in the special theory of relativity, no object can attain the speed of light. Only massless objects like photons whose rest mass is zero can have the speed of light.

Note:The special theory of relativity links the space and time of the objects having the consistent speeds. This theory grabbed so much attention but could not get awarded with the Nobel Prize. The photoelectric effect was like the beginning of the new era, it has tremendous applications. In the same theory he proved that light can also behave as a particle.