Ionization

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Ionization

Ionization

Ionization is the physical process of converting an atom or molecule into an ion by changing the difference between the number of protons and electrons. This process works slightly differently depending on whether an ion with a positive or a negative electric charge is being produced. A positive electric charge is produced when an electron bond to an atom or molecule absorbs enough energy from an external source to escape from the electric potential barrier that originally confined it, where the amount of energy required is called the Ionization potential. A negative electric charge is produced when a free electron collides with an atom and is subsequently caught inside the electric potential barrier, releasing any excess energy.

Ionization can generally be broken down into two types: Sequential Ionization and Non-Sequential Ionization. In classical physics, only Sequential Ionization can take place and therefore refer to the Classical Ionization section for more information. Non-Sequential Ionization violates several laws of classical physics and thus will be discussed in more detail in the Quantum Ionization section.