What is the trend in first ionization energy as you move down a group in the per
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the trend in first ionization energy as you move down a group in the periodic table?
It increases
It decreases
It remains constant
It fluctuates
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the trend in first ionization energy as you move down a group in the periodic table?
Step 1: Understand what first ionization energy is. It is the energy required to remove the outermost electron from an atom.
Step 2: Look at the periodic table and identify a group (a column of elements).
Step 3: Notice that as you move down the group, you are adding more electron shells (energy levels) to the atoms.
Step 4: Realize that with more electron shells, the outermost electron is farther away from the nucleus.
Step 5: Understand that the nucleus has a positive charge and attracts electrons. The farther away an electron is, the weaker the attraction.
Step 6: Consider electron shielding, which is when inner electrons block the outer electron from the full effect of the nucleus's positive charge.
Step 7: Conclude that because of the increased distance and electron shielding, it takes less energy to remove the outermost electron as you go down a group.
Step 8: Therefore, the trend is that first ionization energy decreases as you move down a group.
