In: Chemistry
For an unknown element, I3 = 1.5 × I2 and I4 = 4.2 × I3, where In,s are the consecutive ionization energies. Which of the following can be the unknown element?
The problem should be solved as:
I3=1.5×I2 (eqn 1)
I4=4.2×I3 (eqn 2)
Putting value of I3 in eqn 2
I4= 4.2×(1.5×I2)
=6.3I2
Therefore I4=6.3I2 (eqn 3)
Now, the looking at the literature values of I1,I2,I3,I4 and placing eqn 3 as the condition, we see that Alumunium is the probable element,
As I2=1817 kJ/mol (literature value)
I4= 1817×6.3 = 11447.1 kJ/mol
Which matches very closely to the literature I4 value of Alumunium.