Why do noble gases have the highest ionization energies?

1 Answer
Sep 22, 2015

Due to the fact that they already have filled energy levels and zero valence electrons so they are very stable and do not readily want to give up their electrons in chemical reactions as this would then leave them more unstable again.

By definition, ionization energy is the amount of energy required to release an electron from an atom of the chemical in the gaseous phase. So a large amount of energy is required in the case of a noble gas in group 8 on the periodic table.