Why does ionisation energy increase across a period?

As you go across the period, the nuclear charge (or number of protons increase) but the shielding (or the number of shells) stays the same as all of the elements are on the same period. This causes the nuclear attraction between the nucleus (that is positive) and outermost electron (that is negative) to increase, so the distance between them, also called the atomic radius, decreases.This attraction makes it harder to lose that electron and so the energy to remove it (the ionisation energy) increases as you go across the period

AP

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

How do London Forces/Van der Waal's forces arise?


The following equilibrium is set up in a glass syringe. 2(NO2) (brown gas) ‹-› N2O4 (colourless gas) ∆H = -58 kJmol-1. Using le Chatelier's principle, predict and explain how heating up the mixture would affect it's appearance.


An alcohol, X has an Mr of 74 and percentage composition of 64.9% Carbon, 13.5% Hydrogen and 21.6% Oxygen. It does not turn potassium dichromate (VI) green. Determine the structural formula of X, and state its name.


Explain why Xenon had a lower first ionisation enthalpy than Neon. (3 marks)