Ionization Energy and Noble Gases

Ionization Energy

• Ionization energy is measured in kilojoules and represents the amount of energy required to remove electrons from an atom.
• The process always starts with ionizing an atom, removing electrons from the outermost shell first.
• The first ionization energy refers to the energy needed to remove the first electron. For example, it might take 1000 kilojoules to remove the first electron.

Electron Removal

• Electrons are always removed from the outer shell.
• The second ionization energy involves removing an electron from a full shell, which requires more energy because atoms are more stable with full shells.

Noble Gases and Full Shells

• Atoms with full outer shells are called noble gases.
• Noble gases are unreactive because they are stable and "happy" with their full electron shells.
• Every atom tries to achieve a full outer shell configuration.

Alkaline Metals

• Alkaline metals have one electron in their outer shell.
• It is easier for an alkaline metal to lose one electron to achieve a noble gas configuration with a full shell.

Graphing Ionization Energy

• The graph being discussed represents the energy required to remove one electron from different atoms.
• The x-axis should start from the number one to accurately represent the first ionization energy.
• Data labels can be turned on to display the ionization energies on the graph.