Question

Define ionization energy and explain why the second ionization energy of any element is higher than its first ionization energy.

Answer 1

Ionization energy: the amount of energy it takes to remove an electron.

Most elements want 8 electrons to be stable in their outer orbital. If an element is close to reaching 8 outer electrons, it will not want to lose any more; it will only want to gain more. Taking electrons away means the outer orbital is further from making 8, the orbital also gets smaller because the pull of the positive nucleus increases (remember: the nucleus still has the same # of protons, but you are taking away negative electrons). The nuclear pull is stronger since there are less electrons, and thus, it's harder to remove the electrons