Final answer:
Magnesium has a higher first ionization energy than potassium due to its increasing nuclear charge and smaller atomic radius, which make its outer electrons more strongly attracted to the nucleus.
Step-by-step explanation:
Magnesium (Mg) has a higher ionization energy compared to potassium (K). This is because ionization energy tends to increase as you move across a period from left to right due to the increasing nuclear charge, which attracts the electrons more strongly and makes them harder to remove.
Additionally, magnesium has a smaller atomic radius than potassium, meaning the outer electrons are closer to the nucleus and more strongly attracted to it, again making them harder to remove.
While both elements are metals, magnesium belongs to the alkaline earth metals group, known for having higher ionization energies than the alkali metals to which potassium belongs.
Magnesium has a higher ionization energy than potassium. Ionization energy is the energy required to remove an electron from an atom.
Magnesium has a greater number of protons in its nucleus, which results in a stronger attraction between the electrons and the nucleus. This stronger attraction makes it more difficult to remove an electron from magnesium compared to potassium.