What is the sign of the enthalpy term in an ionization reaction?

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What is the sign of the enthalpy term in an ionization reaction?

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Answer 1 · 2017-07-02T05:14:07

Given the current conventions, they should be POSITIVE........

Explanation:

Consider the ionization reaction......

$Atom(g)$ $"Atom(g)"$ $\to$ $rarr$ ${Atom(g)}^{+} + e^{-}$ $"Atom(g)"^+ + e^(-)$

We separate an electron from a positively nucleus. Reasonably, energy should be required to do this. And so we could rewrite the reaction to reflect this, i.e.......

$"Atom(g)"+Deltararr"Atom(g)"^(+) + e^(-)$

So given that this is an endothermic reaction, $Delta$ should be POSITIVE........

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What is the sign of the enthalpy term in an ionization reaction?

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