Question

What is the maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in a particular shell?

Answer 1

Electronic configuration: The electronic configuration of an element describes how electrons are distributed or configured in its atomic orbitals.

$$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{The}\mathrm{maximum}\mathrm{number}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{electrons}\mathrm{that}\mathrm{can}\mathrm{accomodated}\mathrm{in}\mathrm{each}\mathrm{shell}\mathrm{is}\mathrm{calculated}\mathrm{by}\mathrm{the}2{\left(\mathrm{n}\right)}^2\mathrm{formula}. \\ \mathrm{For}\mathrm{K}\mathrm{shell},\mathrm{n}=1,\mathrm{So},\mathrm{the}\mathrm{number}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{electrons}\mathrm{in}\mathrm{K}\mathrm{shell}=2{\left(1\right)}^2=2 \\ \mathrm{For}\mathrm{L}\mathrm{shell},\mathrm{n}=2,\mathrm{So},\mathrm{the}\mathrm{number}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{electrons}\mathrm{in}\mathrm{L}\mathrm{shell}=2{\left(2\right)}^2=8 \\ \mathrm{For}\mathrm{M}\mathrm{shell},\mathrm{n}=3,\mathrm{So},\mathrm{the}\mathrm{number}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{electrons}\mathrm{in}\mathrm{M}\mathrm{shell}=2{\left(3\right)}^2=18\mathrm{and}\mathrm{so}\mathrm{on}. \end{gathered}$$

For example, the atomic number of sodium (Na) is 11, So there are 11 electrons in sodium and its electronic configuration is $2\left(\mathrm{K}\right),8\left(\mathrm{L}\right),1\left(\mathrm{M}\right).$