Question

An atom has a total number of 17 electrons. What will be the distribution of electrons in different shells?
[3 Marks]

Answer 1

According to Bohr-Bury scheme, the maximum number of electrons present in a shell is given by the formula $2n^2$, where ‘n’ is the orbit number.
[1 Mark]

The maximum number of electrons in different shells is as follows:

Shells	Maximum number of electrons
K (n=1)	2
L (n=2)	8
M (n=3)	18

[1 Mark]

Therefore, if an atom has a total number of 17 electrons, then the distribution of electrons will be:
K-shell = 2 electrons
L-shell = 8 electrons
M-shell = 7 electrons
[1 Mark]