Question

Electrons are attracted by the energy from the positive protons. The other electrons called Valence electrons are repelled by the inner electrons. The lower the lonization energy means _________.

a) The lower the ionization energy means electrons are more attracted to the inner electrons.
b) The lower the ionization energy means valence electrons are less repelled by the inner electrons.
c) The lower the ionization energy means electrons are more repelled by the inner electrons.
d) The lower the ionization energy means electrons are less attracted to the positive protons.

Answer 1

The lower the ionization energy means that electrons are less attracted to the positive protons, indicating a weaker electrostatic attraction between them. This trend is influenced by atomic size and the number of electron shells in an atom, which affects the effective nuclear charge experienced by the valence electrons.

Step-by-step explanation:

The lower the ionization energy, the easier it is to remove an electron from an atom because the attractive forces between the electrons and the protons are weaker. Therefore, the correct answer to the question 'The lower the ionization energy means _________' is d) The lower the ionization energy means electrons are less attracted to the positive protons. This trend can be explained by the increasing distance of the valence electrons from the nucleus in larger atoms, which reduces the electrostatic attraction, and by the increased shielding effect of inner electron shells in elements with more electrons.

Moving from left to right across the periodic table, the number of protons in the nucleus increases. This leads to a stronger attraction of the nucleus to electrons, implying that a higher ionization energy would be required to remove an electron. Conversely, as we move down a group, the size of the atom and the number of inner electron shells increase, which diminishes the effective nuclear charge experienced by valence electrons; hence the ionization energy decreases.