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Summarise the rules for writing of distribution of electrons in various shells for the first eighteen elements.


Answer :

The following rules are followed for writing the number of electrons in different energy levels or shells:

(i) The maximum number of electrons present in a shell is given by the formula \( 2n^2 \) , where ‘n’ is the orbit number or energy level index, 1, 2, 3, ….

Hence the maximum number of electrons in different shells are as follows:

first orbit (n = 1) or K-shell will be = 2 × 12 = 2,
second orbit (n = 2) or L-shell will be = 2 × 22 = 8,
third orbit (n = 3) or M-shell will be = 2 × 32 = 18,
fourth orbit (n = 4) or N-shell will be = 2 × 42 = 32
and so on.

(ii) The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in the outermost orbit is 8 for all shells except for K-shell which can accommodate only 2 electrons .

(iii) Electrons are not accommodated in a given shell, unless the inner shells are filled which means the shells are filled in a step-wise manner.

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