Question

Explain how electrons are arranged in an atom.

Answer 1

The electrons in an atom move around the nucleus in regions known as electron shells.

Each electron shell can only contain a certain number of electrons.

Electrons are placed in the lower energy level first and when this is completely filled, we move on to the second energy level and so on.

The way the electrons are arranged in an atom is called the atom's electronic structure or electronic configuration.

The maximum number of electrons that the first shell can contain is 2. The max. no. of electrons that the second shell can contain is 8. For the first 20 elements, the max. no. of electrons that the 3rd shell can contain is 8.