The energy required to remove an electron from a gaseous atom is called?
fission energy
vapor energy
potential energy
ionization energy
Summary The tendency of an element to lose or gain electrons is one of the most important factors in determining the kind of compounds it forms. Periodic behavior is most evident for ionization energy (I), the energy required to remove an electron from a gaseous atom. The energy required to remove successive electrons from an atom increases steadily, with a substantial increase occurring with the removal of an electron from a filled inner shell. Consequently, only valence electrons can be removed in chemical reactions, leaving the filled inner shell intact. Ionization energies explain the common oxidation states observed for the elements. Ionization energies increase diagonally from the lower left of the periodic table to the upper right. Minor deviations from this trend can be explained in terms of particularly stable electronic configurations, called pseudo noble gas configurations, in either the parent atom or the resulting.