Ionization Energy

[Kayla Maldonado 1C]

When talking about ionization energy, why is it that it's harder to remove a 2nd electron from an atom and does this mean that there are multiple ionization energies for an element?

[AlyssaYeh_1B]

It's harder to remove a second electron from an atom because removing the first one gives the atom an overall net positive charge. Therefore, the attraction that's exerted on each electron gets larger, making it harder to remove. And yes, there are multiple ionization energies for an element

[Ashley Kim 3F]

It is always more difficult to remove the second electron because the net positive charge exerted by the nucleus affects it greater than the electrons in the outer shells. As you remove more electrons, the more energy it takes to remove each one.

[Joowon Seo 3A]

It is harder to remove the second electron since the positive charge on the nucleus has a greater force on the electrons since there are less electrons. This is also why cations get smaller.

[Aarushi Solanki 4F]

It is harder to remove a second electron because removing the first electron gave the atom (now ion) a positive charge. This indicates that the pull of the nucleus is strong because less electrons means less electron-electron repulsion, resulting in the radii slightly decreasing, and therefore causing the outermost electrons to be even closer to the nucleus.