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posted by  +[)0663|2 on 6/1/2008 10:15:46 PM  |  status: Live  

Periodic Trends-- Ionization Energy

Course Textbook Chapter Problem
General Chemistry Chemistry: The Central Science (10th) by Brown, Lemay, Bursten 7 N/A
Question Details:
How come 2nd Ionization energy is always greater than 1st?

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Sage
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posted by ClayL on 6/1/2008 10:26:25 PM  |  status: Live
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Ionization energy is defined as the energy required to remove an electron from an atom. The second ionization energy is always higher than the first because after the first ionization, the atom  has become more positively charged because you have removed an electron. Removing a second electron(2nd ionization) requires much more energy because of the increased electrostatic attractive force between the now positively charged atom and the electron that you are trying to remove
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posted by LiquidDream on 6/1/2008 10:34:35 PM  |  status: Live
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First ionization energy is the energy required to remove the OUTERMOST electron. As the outermost electron is being removed, the electrons are being removed from the inner shell. Inner shell electrons are more strongly sttracted by the nucleus. Therefore, more energy is required to remove the innershell electron and thus 2nd ionization energy is greater than 1st ionization energy.
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posted by thatsme on 6/2/2008 9:41:16 PM  |  status: Live
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+[)0663|2's comment:
"srry it took a while"
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ionization energy is the energy needed to pull an electron away from an atom. the energy required increases as more electrons are pulled away because the atom is becoming more stable, and it does not want to get rid of electrons as much.
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