ICSE Class 10 Chemistry Question 2 of 23

Model Paper 2 — Question 2

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2
Question

Question 1(ii)

Ionisation potential is maximum in:

  1. Alkaline earth metals
  2. Halogens
  3. Inert gases
  4. Alkali metals
Answer

Inert gases

Reason — Ionisation potential (or ionisation energy) is the energy required to remove the outermost electron from an atom in the gaseous state. It generally increases from left to right across a period (because effective nuclear charge increases) and decreases down a group (because atomic size and shielding increase).
Noble gases have completely filled valence shells and very small atomic radii within their periods; therefore, much more energy is needed to remove an electron from them, giving them the maximum ionisation energy among the groups listed.