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definition of ionisation energy

the (minimum) energy to remove an electron(from an atom) from the ground state

does that mean electron is removed from shell n=1(the most inner shell) rather than outer shell?
is ground state subject to each orbital electron (ie a electron in ground state doesn't necessary mean its in the most inner shell )
(edited 6 years ago)
It removes the electron farthest from the nucleus in the atom. To infinity. (2)
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alvan15
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[QUOTE="Anfanny;71624572"]It removes the electron farthest from the nucleus in the atom. To infinity. (2)[/QUOTE
so any orbital electron is in their own ground state in that sense?
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jb10101
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[QUOTE="alvan15;71624884"]
Original post by Anfanny
It removes the electron farthest from the nucleus in the atom. To infinity. (2)[/QUOTE
so any orbital electron is in their own ground state in that sense?


Yep! You got it. It just means that the electron hasn't been excited - that is, it's in the shell it's normally at, and it hasn't been given some energy already and bumped up to a higher shell. (That's a physics thing though, which you really don't need to worry about for chemistry at all.)

The fact that it's the outer shell (valence) electron is why things like electron shielding are a factor when looking at trends in ionisation energy.
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alvan15
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Original post by TheProphetsPath
The definition should be:
The minimum amount of energy needed to completely remove an electron at ground state. I'm sure.


i just pulled it out of a mark scheme , you are mostly likely correct as the mark scheme can be vague for low marks question
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alvan15
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[QUOTE="jb10101;71624940"]
Original post by alvan15


Yep! You got it. It just means that the electron hasn't been excited - that is, it's in the shell it's normally at, and it hasn't been given some energy already and bumped up to a higher shell. (That's a physics thing though, which you really don't need to worry about for chemistry at all.)

The fact that it's the outer shell (valence) electron is why things like electron shielding are a factor when looking at trends in ionisation energy.

cheers for clearing that up, the definition of ground state has always bugged me

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