Question #c502c

1 Answer
Jun 16, 2017

The maximum number of electrons allowed in each orbital is #2#.

Explanation:

The electron configuration of an atom contains orbitals and shells, which are then further classified into subshells to describe the electron positioning.

Orbitals can each contain #2# electrons. The orbitals are then arranged into subshells, each with a characteristic number of orbitals included. Shells are composed of the subshells.

Starting with the shell closest to the nucleus, there is only one s subshell with a single orbital containing two electrons.

Moving to the second shell closest to the nucleus, there is one s subshell with a single orbital containing two electrons and one p subshell with three orbitals each containing two electrons.

As the electron count goes up, the orbitals in the subshells increase steadily, but the number of electrons in each orbital remain at a constant #2#.

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