AHL Atomic
Structure: Ionization Energy
Slide 6 of 18
Evidence for
shells: Successive ionization energy of Sodium
When an electron is removed from an
inner shell, there is a big increase in the ionization energy, almost 10
fold increase, indicating the removal of an electron
that is closer to the nucleus.
For
sodium, the first jump is when the second electron is removed. Magnesium the
third, Si the fifth, which, relates to the number of valence electrons in each
atom and therefore the group the element belongs to.
