Question

Which has more ionisation energy- Nitrogen or Oxygen?

Answer 1

• The amount of energy needed to remove an electron from a gaseous neutral atom is known as ionization energy or ionization potential.
• Nitrogen has an electronic configuration$1{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{p}}^3$, and we can see the p orbital is half filled- making it quite stable.
• Oxygen has an electronic configuration$1{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2\mathrm{p}4$, which has two unpaired electrons in its valence p orbital.
• Thus the energy required to remove an electron from the stable valence orbital configuration of Nitrogen will be higher than that required to remove an electron from the valence orbital of Oxygen.
• Concluding that Nitrogen has higher ionization enthalpy than Oxygen.