Question

Why is it difficult to ionise group 16 elements?

Answer 1

1. Group 16 elements have high ionisation energies, meaning it requires a lot of energy to remove an electron from them.
2. This difficulty arises because they have small atomic sizes, so their valence electrons are closer to the nucleus.
3. They also experience a high effective nuclear charge, which pulls the valence electrons strongly and holds them tightly.
4. Due to these factors, removing electrons from group 16 elements needs more energy, making ionisation hard.
5. As a result, these elements usually do not form positive ions (cations).
6. Ionisation energy decreases down the group because atoms get larger and electrons are farther from the nucleus.