The amount of energy required for removing 1 mole of electrons from 1 mole of gaseous atoms of an element to produce 1 mole of gaseous positive ions of that element is known as its ionization energy.
If M is any element in the periodic table, then its ionization can be expressed with the following equation:
Symbol: Ionization energies are generally symbolized IE.
Unit: The unit of ionization energy is: kJ/mol
The most important aspects to remember regarding ionization energies are:
- The atoms have to be in the gaseous state
- Only 1 mole of atoms is considered
- 1 mole of electrons is removed
- 1 mole of gaseous positive ions is produced
