Periodic Trends
Among the elements Na, Mg, Al, and Si, which has the highest first ionization energy?
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About This Question
- Subject
- chemistry
- Chapter
- classification of elements and periodicity in properties
- Topic
- periodic trends
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
Si
First Ionization Energy (IE1) is the energy required to remove the outermost electron from an isolated gaseous atom.
- Across a period (from left to right), the atomic radius decreases and the effective nuclear charge (Zeff) increases.
- This makes it progressively harder to remove an electron.
- For Period 3 elements: Na<Al<Mg<Si.
- (Note: Mg has higher IE1 than Al because Mg has a stable 3s2 filled subshell).
- However, among the four, Silicon (Si) has the highest nuclear charge and smallest size, resulting in the highest IE1.
This easy difficulty chemistry question is from the chapter classification of elements and periodicity in properties, covering the topic of periodic trends. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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