According to my textbook, fluorine has a pretty high (compared to elements like sodium) first ionization energy. But why does it have such a high requirement to ionize? After all, it actively seeks out atoms to bond with, even tearing through already existing bonds in its drive to do so.
I would expect that fluorine would have a very low ionization energy, as it is soooooooo close to having a full octet (just like sodium). Yet unlike sodium, it has a higher first ionization energy. Why is that?
(My guess is that fluorine's protons' affinity for electrons is so great that it simply "overpowers" the octet rule.)
Apparently, neon can also be ionized. Doesn't that mean it can bond with cations? But it is unusually stable, so why doesn't it?
I think there is an underlying law behind this that can explain these, please help!
EDIT: Fluorine has now been explained, but why can neon be ionized? After all, if you give it a positive charge by taking away electrons, won't it be able to bond to anions? But in reality, it doesn't. What is going on?