Asked in PMC Practice Test 29 (2021) 2021Moderate

The second ionization potential of alkali metals are very high due to:

Correct answer: B. inert gas configurations

  • A. beings-block elements
  • B. inert gas configurations
  • C. ns1 electronic configuration
  • D. being metals

Explanation

Second ionization energy can be defined as the removal of one mole of electron from the one mole of monovalent gaseous cation of the element as after the first ionization process. Alkali metals contain only one valence electron. On losing this electron, these metals attain noble gas configuration. Therefore, the removal of a second electron requires a huge amount of energy as the electron has to be removed from the shell that is closer to the nucleus.

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About Electronic Configuration

Electronic configuration describes how electrons occupy shells, subshells and orbitals around an atom. Questions use the Aufbau principle, Pauli exclusion principle and Hund's rule to write configurations, identify valence electrons, form ions and explain periodic trends, including common exceptions such as chromium and copper.

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