Binding energy question The electrons in the 1s orbital of chlorine have a binding energy of 273 MJ/mol, but the 1s electrons in sulfur have a binding energy of 239 MJ/mol. Why is this?
Chlorine has 17 protons and Sulfur has 16. In the 1s orbital there is no ineer electron to provide shielding effect of repulsion. So greater the positive charge, greater is the attraction and better is the binding.