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Because Alkali metals are in the first group of the periodic table, they are classified as having only one valence electron. Recall that the ionization energy is the energy required to ionize a particular species. As you increase the amount of electrons in the valence, more energy needs to be added to remove more electrons. For example, if there were two balls on your side of the court, it would take more energy to lug those two over as opposed to just throwing one. So ionizing sodium would be much easier than ionizing an atom like carbon which has 4 valence electrons. The net energy gain/loss from ionization comes down to two important factors: 1) does it have a closed configuration; and 2) is it thermodynamically stable? Generally, highly reactive substances are not stable because they can form molecules with very powerful bond strengths. If you have a very stable molecule, breaking it apart would require a lot of energy -- the bond-dissociation energy. Long story short, it is energetically favorable to have alkali metals bonded.

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