Oxygen dip in ionization energy trend

AI Thread Summary
Spin-orbit splitting significantly influences the anomalous Zeeman effect and the decrease in spin when transitioning from nitrogen to oxygen. The introduction of a second electron into an already occupied orbital leads to electron repulsion, making it easier to remove an electron and resulting in a dip in ionization energy. In oxygen, the last electron shares a doubly occupied p-orbital with an opposing spin electron, which allows for greater shielding from the nucleus and contributes to lower ionization energy. However, this explanation does not hold for fluorine, which has a higher ionization energy despite increased electron repulsion. The stability of half-filled or fully filled orbitals plays a role in these phenomena, but the complexities of electronic configurations in multi-electron atoms mean that simple heuristics often fail to account for anomalous behaviors. The transition from nitrogen to oxygen to fluorine involves not just an increase in electron count but also changes in nuclear charge, complicating the analysis of ionization energies.
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I want a better answer than these three ones I found.
How does spin-orbit splitting also affect this or anomalous zeeman effect or decrease in spin when you move from Nitrogen to Oxygen?

Bad Teacher: The addition of the second electron into an already occupied orbital introduces repulsion between the electrons, thus it is easier to remove. that is why there is a dip in the ionization energy.

Bad Teacher: In oxygen, the last electron shares a doubly occupied p-orbital with an electron of opposing spin. The two electrons in the same orbital are closer together on average than two electrons in different orbitals, so that they shield each other from the nucleus more effectively and it is easier to remove one electron, resulting in a lower ionization energy.[2][14]

The problem is then you can't use the same explanation to explain Fluorine is higher ionization energy than Oxygen because you're also adding repulsions.

Bad Teacher:Stability of half-filled orbitals or completely filled orbitals.

This quote is using is arguing a point not building evidence for it.

I've tried studying spin and that doesn't explain it.

I tried using term symbols. Can you compare ionization energies of different atoms using that via Highest spin highest J?
 
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It appears that you are looking for a simple explanation where one doesn't exist.

Electronic configuration of multi-electron atoms is complex. While in many cases, one can come up with simple heuristics to explain what is observed, there are anomalous configurations that don't fit the pattern.

Going from N to O to F, you are not simply changing the number of electrons, but also the charge of the nucleus.
 
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