Multiple Choice
Which of the following elements has the lowest second ionization energy?
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10. Periodic Properties of the Elements
Periodic Trend: Successive Ionization Energies
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Which of the following statements best describes the trend in successive ionization energies for an element?
A
Each successive ionization energy is lower than the previous one because the atom becomes less stable.
B
Successive ionization energies remain constant for all electrons removed from an atom.
C
Each successive ionization energy is higher than the previous one because it becomes harder to remove an electron from an increasingly positive ion.
D
The second ionization energy is always lower than the first for all elements.
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand what ionization energy means: it is the energy required to remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion.
Recognize that successive ionization energies refer to the energy needed to remove electrons one after another from the same atom.
Recall that after removing one electron, the atom becomes a positively charged ion, which holds onto its remaining electrons more tightly due to increased effective nuclear charge.
Therefore, each successive ionization energy is higher than the previous one because it requires more energy to remove an electron from a positively charged ion than from a neutral atom.
Conclude that the correct trend is: each successive ionization energy increases because it becomes harder to remove an electron from an increasingly positive ion.
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