Which of the following represents an electron configuration that corresponds to the valence electrons of an element for which there is an especially large jump between the second and third ionization energies? A.

B.

C.

D.

C . ns²np²

Explanation:

According to this configuration the outermost orbit has 2 electrons in p and 2 electrons in s . After first ionization from p orbital  involving energy E₁ , second ionisation from p  is possible with E₂ energy . E₂ will be greater than E₁ .

But after second ionisation , there is no electron in p orbital . Hence the third ionisation is possible when we extract electron from s orbital . The difference in the ionisation energy of s and p is quite large . Hence third ionisation will involve much greater energy .

Hence third ionisation energy will be much larger than the second ionisation energy or

E₃ >>> E₂ .

Hence option ( C ) is correct .

The electron configuration that corresponds to the valence electrons of an element for which there is an especially large jump between the second and third ionization energies is ns2

Ionization energy is the energy required for the loss of an electron from an atom. The ionization energy is a periodic trend that decreases down the group but increases across the period.

A large jump occurs when the first electron is removed from an inner shell. If we look at the options, we will discover that the electron configuration that corresponds to the valence electrons of an element for which there is an especially large jump between the second and third ionization energies is a configuration in which there are two valence electrons. This happens to be ns2.

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