Question

Why is there an increase in successive IP values?

Answer 1

1. Ionization potential - It is the minimum amount of energy required to remove the most loosely held electrons from the outermost shell.
2. Successive ionization potential is the process of removing more than one electron from the valence shell of an atom.
3. After removing the first electron the number of electrons in the atom decreases but the number of protons remains the same.
4. Hence, the effective nuclear charge acting on the valence electrons increase.
5. Thus, successive ionization potential values are ${\mathrm{I}}_1<{\mathrm{I}}_2<{\mathrm{I}}_3.....$ where ${\mathrm{I}}_1$ is the first ionization potential, ${\mathrm{I}}_2$ is the second ionization potential, ${\mathrm{I}}_3$ is third the ionization potential.