Ionisation Energy - Groups 1 & 2 (Edexcel International A Level Chemistry)

• All elements in Groups 1 (also called alkali metals) have one electron in their outermost principal quantum shell
• All elements in Groups 2 (also called alkali earth metals) have two electrons in their outermost principal quantum shell
• All Group 1 and Group 2 metals can form ionic compounds in which they donate these outermost electrons (so they act as reducing agents) to become an ion with either a +1 or +2 charge (so they themselves become oxidised)
• Going down the group, the metals become more reactive
  • This can be explained by looking at the Group 2 ionisation energies:

The graph shows that both the first and second ionization energies decrease going down the group

• The same trend is observed with Group 1 alkali metals 
• The first ionisation energy is the energy needed to remove the first outer electron of an atom
• The second ionisation energy is the energy needed to remove the second outer electron of an atom
• The graph above shows that going down the group, it becomes easier to remove the outer two electrons of the metals
• Though the nuclear charge increases going down the group (because there are more protons), factors such as an increased shielding effect and a larger distance between the outermost electrons and nucleus outweigh the attraction of the higher nuclear charge