Ionization means pulling off an electron. So the first IE means removing 1 electron from lithium:
Li --> Li+ + 1 e-
The product is a + ion because it now has one more proton than electron.
The 2nd ionization energy is removing a 2nd electron from that resulting cation:
Li+ --> Li2+ + 1e-
So the 3rd IE ???? (I bet you can figure it out now, right?)
