What is the trend in ionization energy across a period?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the trend in ionization energy across a period?
Increases
Decreases
Remains constant
Increases then decreases
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the trend in ionization energy across a period?
Step 1: Understand what ionization energy is. It is the energy required to remove an electron from an atom.
Step 2: Know what a period is. A period is a row in the periodic table where elements have the same number of electron shells.
Step 3: Recognize that as you move from left to right across a period, the number of protons in the nucleus increases. This is called increasing nuclear charge.
Step 4: Realize that with more protons, the positive charge of the nucleus pulls the electrons closer, making it harder to remove an electron.
Step 5: Conclude that because of this stronger attraction, the ionization energy increases as you move across a period.
