True or false: It requires more energy to remove electrons from atoms with their outer orbit over half filled to capacity?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not enough information
• D. Depends on the atom

Answer: (A)

The correct assertion is that it requires more energy to remove electrons from atoms that have their outer orbit more than half filled to capacity. This is rooted in the understanding of electron configuration and atomic structure.

Atoms that have a nearly filled outer electron shell are more stable due to the principles of electron repulsion and shielding effects. As the outer orbit approaches a filled state, the electrons experience greater effective nuclear charge because they are more stable in a well-filled configuration. Thus, removing an electron from such an atom requires overcoming this additional stabilization, resulting in a higher ionization energy compared to atoms with less than half-filled outer shells.

In contrast, for those atoms that are less than half filled, electrons are generally less tightly held because of the increased repulsion between them. This makes it easier to remove one of those outer electrons, thereby requiring less energy.

Understanding these principles allows an appreciation of periodic trends in ionization energy, where elements in different groups of the periodic table exhibit varying tendencies in how easily they lose electrons based on their electronic configurations. Thus, the statement is true with respect to the fundamental behaviors observed in atomic structure.