“The process of ionization:
A charge-causing classification;
Electrons lost/gained
Yield an ion proclaimed
From an atom once neutral in station.”
The 11 April 2023 limerick returned to familiar themes seen on this website, building on a common chemistry term with a variety of flexible rhymes!
“The process of ionization: /
A charge-causing classification…”
Ionization is the process of converting a neutral atom to a charged ion: it is thus “a charge-causing classification.”
The “first ionization energy” of an element refers to the energy required to accomplish the process shown here, where the neutral element X is converted to the singly-positively-charged cation X+, by losing an electron (e– ). As defined, this is a gas-phase process (shown here via the phase label of (g)).
X (g) → X+ (g) + e–
One of the most reliable periodic trends is that first ionization energy increases for elements going across a row (left to right) of the periodic table and decreases going down a column. This is because it becomes easier to remove an electron from an atom as the atom increases in size, and atomic radius decreases across a row (left to right) and increases down a column.
“Electrons lost/gained /
Yield an ion proclaimed /
From an atom once neutral in station.”
In a neutral atom, the number of protons (which are positively charged) balances out the number of electrons (which are negatively charged). If an atom loses or gains electrons, this balance is upset, and an ion results! In other words, an “ion [is] proclaimed, from an atom once neutral in station.” If an atom loses electrons, it forms a positively charged ion, which has more protons than electrons and is called a cation. If an atom gains electrons, it forms a negatively charged ion, which has more electrons than protons and is called an anion.
Chemphasis 