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What is the ionization energy of an element?
Question options:
the energy needed to turn an atom into an anion
the energy needed to turn an atom into a cation
the energy needed to move an electron from an inner orbital to an outer orbital
the ability of an atom to attract new electrons
Chemistry is largely a matter of memorizing what the words mean. "Anion" means an ion attracted to the anode. An anode is a positively charged electrode. IOW the anion is a negative ion. Cation is the opposite, a positive ion.
The ionization energy (IE) is qualitatively defined as the amount of energy required to remove the most loosely bound electron, the valence electron, of an isolated gaseous atom to form a cation. (wikipedia)
That would be "first ionization energy". To remove a second electron is "second ionization energy".
