Ionization

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Ionization energy is the energy required to remove an electronfrom a gaseous atom or ion. The first or initial ionization energy or Ei of an atom or molecule is the energy required to remove one mole of electrons from one mole of isolated gaseous atoms or ions. You may think of ionization energy as a measure of the difficulty of removing electron or the strength by which an electron is bound. The higher the ionization energy, the more difficult it is to remove an electron. Therefore, ionization energy is in indicator of reactivity.

Uses

Everyday examples of gas ionization are such as within a fluorescent lamp or other electrical discharge lamps. It is also used in radiation detectors such as the Geiger-Müller counter or the ionization chamber. The ionization process is widely used in a variety of equipment in fundamental science and in such as mass spectroscopy and radiotherapy.

Ionization energy of atoms

The trend in the ionization energy of atoms is often used to demonstrate the periodic behavior of atoms with respect to the atomic number, as summarized by ordering atoms inMendeleev's table. This is a valuable tool for establishing and understanding the ordering of electrons in atomic orbitals without going into the details of wave functions or the ionization process.

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