Question

Based on the ionization energies of the alkali metals, which alkali metal would you expect to undergo the least exothermic reaction with chlorine gas?
Express your answer as a chemical symbol.

Answer 1

Answer:

Li

Explanation:

• In this case, "least exothermic" means that the correct answer is the least reactive of the alkali metals.

• The lower the ionization energy is, the higher the reactivity of the alkali metal is.

With the above information in mind, and remembering that ionization energy tends to decrease as we go down the group in the periodic table, the correct answer is Li, as it has the highest ionization energy among the alkali metals.