Second ionization energy

[Annabella_Amato_1I]

Why is the second ionization energy always greater than the first ionization energy?

[HilaGelfer_2H]

Hi!

The second ionization energy is always higher than the first one since when the atom loses an electron is has a net positive charge. Consequently, when something has a net positive charge the nuclear charge increases holding the electrons more tightly towards the nucleus. As a result of this increased nuclear charge and the electrons being held more closely, it takes more energy to remove another electron from a cation.

I hope this helps :)

[Melody Haratian 2J]

Hello! The second ionization energy is higher than the first one because it becomes harder to remove a second electron from an atom after you have already removed the first one. You will need more energy to remove a second electron, thus resulting in a higher second ionization energy. Atoms do not want to give up their second electron as easily as they want to give up theirs first electron, so you will need more energy to remove it.

[Chance Herbert 3A]

The second ionization energy will be greater after the first electron is removed. When there are fewer valence electrons, there is a lesser magnitude of repulsion between these valence electrons which would increase the overall center seeking force resulting in a higher ionization energy or amount of effort required to remove a valence electron. Keep in mind the number of attractive protons remains constant while the number of electrons experiencing this attraction decreases as well!