Review if ATOMIC PROTERTIES MENU

So, starting off with this website, I quickly discovered that the first few links were EXACTLY what we covered in class. I felt pretty good about it. I reviewed the material and found that I still understood what they were talking about. That changed a little when I moved from the familiar to IONISATION ENERGY.

I think what shook me had to do with unfamiliar terms, like moles (not furry rodents) and kilojoules per mole (even less to do with rodents). My brain wanted to tuck tail and run from such thought twisting concepts. Certain things led me to feel like I was getting it. Like, the talk about electrons further from the nucleus being easier to pull away. That made sense because distance can decrease the pull of the energy. That made sense to me, especially since there are those orbits between the outer layer and the nucleus which are neutralizing some of that pull with their own negative charge. It also made sense that an outer layer with two electrons would be easier to pull away than one. Each of those two electrons is having to share that orbital with each other, they don't wanna share, and then they repel each other. So, repelling each other and having that distance and shielding from the nucleus, that makes sense that they would be easier to pull away than the one by itself.

Right after that it started getting fuzzy. The concepts were lost on my poor brain and questions like: Why the drop between groups 5 and 6 (N-O and P-S)? failed to have any meaning for me at all. I think it was just too much at once. These ideas are a lot to take in, and I think that I need time in between to absorb info. Class was good, we read, we discussed, had q&a, and then moved on. Reading it straight through doesn't seem to work well for me. I want it explained in several different ways with pictures and examples and cartoons and anything else I can get.