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Solved: When atoms lose more than one electron, the ionization energy to remove the

Chapter 9, Problem 112P

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QUESTION:

When atoms lose more than one electron, the ionization energy to remove the second electron is always more than the ionization energy to remove the first. Similarly, the ionization energy to remove the third electron is more than the second and so on. However, the increase in ionization energy upon the removal of subsequent electrons is not necessarily uniform. For example, consider the first three ionization energies of magnesium:

\(\begin{array}{ll} \text { First ionization energy } & 738 \mathrm{~kJ} / \mathrm{mol} \\ \text { Second ionization energy } & 1450 \mathrm{~kJ} / \mathrm{mol} \\ \text { Third ionization energy } & 7730 \mathrm{~kJ} / \mathrm{mol} \end{array}\)

The second ionization energy is roughly twice the first ionization energy, but then the third ionization energy is over five times the second. Use the electron configuration of magnesium to explain why this is so. Would you expect the same behavior in sodium? Why or why not?

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QUESTION:

When atoms lose more than one electron, the ionization energy to remove the second electron is always more than the ionization energy to remove the first. Similarly, the ionization energy to remove the third electron is more than the second and so on. However, the increase in ionization energy upon the removal of subsequent electrons is not necessarily uniform. For example, consider the first three ionization energies of magnesium:

\(\begin{array}{ll} \text { First ionization energy } & 738 \mathrm{~kJ} / \mathrm{mol} \\ \text { Second ionization energy } & 1450 \mathrm{~kJ} / \mathrm{mol} \\ \text { Third ionization energy } & 7730 \mathrm{~kJ} / \mathrm{mol} \end{array}\)

The second ionization energy is roughly twice the first ionization energy, but then the third ionization energy is over five times the second. Use the electron configuration of magnesium to explain why this is so. Would you expect the same behavior in sodium? Why or why not?

ANSWER:

Step 1 of 3

Ionization energy is the amount of energy required to remove an electron from an atom to form an ion in a gaseous state. Ionization energy always increases as we move from left to right across a period of the periodic table. This is because of the increase in effective nuclear charge with increasing atomic number. Thus Mg has higher IE than Na.

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