Question

Which electron is the hardest to remove from an atom having two valence electrons?” The choices for the answer were 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the answer for this question was 4. Explain why the answer would be 4 for any atom with any number of valence electrons if those were the choices provided

Answer 1

if it has 2 electrons

then, the first 2 electrons are the easiest to remove, sinc those are "extra" recall that metals with 2 e- such as Calcium, Barium, Magnesium will form ions +2, which are stable, since they have "noble gas" configuraiton, once they donate 2 e-

then...

removing an extra electron, will be much harder than the first 2, since it will "break" the octec trule

finally, removing the 2nd will require EVEN MORE energy than tht first one, since 6 electron is farthest than 7 electrons to the 8ctect ( 8 electrons)

Q2.

note that 4 is the number betwen 0 an 8, meaning it is the middle point, i.e. removing 1,2,3 --> up to 4

once we achieve 4, it is easier to get rid of 5,6,7 to form an octect