Factors Affecting Ionization Energy
Factors that affect the Ionization Energy of any atom and molecule are:
- If an atom or ion is positively charged then the electrons are more tightly held by the nucleus, so the ionization energy is high.
- If the number of shells is less i.e. the electrons are near to the nucleus then the IE is high and vice versa.
- It is difficult to remove the inner electrons as compared to the outer electrons due to this reason.
- The IE is less when there is more than 1 electron in a shell due to the interelectronic repulsions.
- An atom with lower IE acts as a good reducing agent while those with high IE act as a good oxidizing agent.
Ionization Energy
Ionization energy can be defined as the minimum amount of energy required to remove the valence electron i.e. the most loosely bound electron from an isolated gaseous atom or ion. It is important to note the term isolated gaseous atom as if the atom is not isolated, then the energy required may be more due to the interatomic forces.
Let’s learn about Ionization Energy in detail in this article.