3/28/2015

Ionization Energy
The energy required to remove an electron from a gaseous
atom or ion.
The electron is completely
Z+

removed from the atom.

(Z-1) -

Z-

Z+

+ E

e-

The greater the ability of an

atom to hold on to its
electrons, the higher the
ionization energy will be.

Ionization requires an input of energy...we must provide

energy to separate the negatively-charged electron from the
positively-charged nucleus.

E + X

X + + e-

Generally performed using photons, with energy measured in

electronvolts, eV (1 eV = 1.6 x 10-19 J).

Ionization Examples
Lets compare the energies required to remove
valence versus core electrons.
Na(g)

Na+(g) + e-

IE1 = 5.14 eV

Na+(g)

Na2+(g) + e-

IE2 = 47.3 eV

Takes significantly more energy to remove a core

electron. core electron configurations tend to be
energetically stable.

3/28/2015

3/28/2015

First Ionization E Trends

+
IE increases from left to
Reason: increasing Z (the number of
protons in the nucleus) which attracts
right across a period.
the valence electron
IE decreases from top to
Reason: increasing distance between
bottom down a group.
electron and nucleus