I read that "the ionisation energies of electrons in an atom decrease as the shell number decreases" but first I thought "orbital energies increase as you go up the shells".
Aren't they the same thing? I am confused.
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They aren't the same thing, because orbital energy is the sum of all energy within the atom's orbital (which actually can't be measured, but can be compared to other atoms). Ionisation energy is the energy (measurable) that it takes to take an electron out. Sometimes also referred to as "first ionisation energy" because you're taking out the first electron only. However, they follow the same trends, like smaller atomic mass, higher electronegativity, etc. For similar reasons too, but they aren't the same attribute, if you get what I mean! :) |
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