The ionization energies of the representative elements generally decrease from top to bottom within a group. This trend is explained by the increase in size of the atoms within a group. The valence electron that is being removed is further from the nucleus in the case of a larger atom. The attractive force between the valence electron and the nucleus weakens as the distance between them increases and as the shielding effect increases, resulting in a lower ionization energy for the larger atoms within a group. Although the nucl
Context:
Rob is learning about ionization. He looks at a specific group of elements from top to bottom to figure out thier ionization energy.
Q: Which element will have a higher shielding effect, the top element or the bottom element?