General Characteristics of the p-block Elements

Nuclear charge increases

Across a period, nuclear charge increases while electrons are added to the same shell, increasing effective nuclear pull and decreasing atomic size.

Fluororine

Fluorine has the highest nuclear charge in the second period p-block, pulling electrons closer and having the smallest size.

Decrease in atomic size

Smaller atoms hold electrons more tightly due to increased effective nuclear charge, requiring more energy to remove an electron.

Nitrogen

Nitrogen has a half-filled p-orbital configuration (2p³), which is stable and requires more energy to remove an electron.