The element having the greatest difference between its first and second ionization energies, is:

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Strategy:
 A massive difference between successive ionization energies occurs when removing an electron from a stable, completed noble gas configuration (the "inner core").

Step 1: Analyze configurations
- Potassium (K): . Removing the  electron is easy. The  must be removed from the stable  core. This creates an enormous jump.
- Calcium (Ca): . Both  and  electrons are removed from the valence shell. The massive jump occurs only for .
- Scandium (Sc): . Massive jump occurs for .

Step 2: Concl

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