Final answer:
Elements with high ionization energies tend to form anions as they are less likely to lose electrons and more likely to gain electrons due to the high energy required to remove an electron. The tendency to form anions increases as one moves from left to right across the periodic table.
Step-by-step explanation:
If an element has high ionization energy, it is typically more difficult to remove an electron from that element to form a cation. Therefore, elements with high ionization energies tend to form anions rather than cations. This is because the energy required to remove successive electrons increases, particularly as you start to remove electrons that are closer to the nucleus and more strongly attracted to the positive charge of the nucleus. Moreover, the elements on the right side of the periodic table, which have higher ionization energies, are more likely to gain electrons and form anions with a negative charge.
The periodic table provides useful insight into the behavior of elements. Elements toward the lower left have low ionization energies and thus tend to form cations easily, such as the alkali metals (group 1) which form 1+ ions. Conversely, nonmetals found on the upper right tend to have higher ionization energies, often forming anions with a charge corresponding to the number of electrons they gain to achieve noble gas configurations.