Passage VI

An atomic orbital can contain 0, 1, or 2 electrons. It is filled when it contains 2 electrons. An orbital's location and shape are determined by its energy level and sublevel. Table 1 lists the first 4 energy levels, their sublevels, and the number of orbitals in each sublevel.

Table 2 names each of the sublevels in the first 4 energy levels.

Table 3 shows the order in which the sublevels are filled with electrons. Each sublevel must be filled before an electron can be added to the next sublevel.

Tables 4 illustrates a notation used to indicate the number of electrons per sublevel.

Tables adapted from Kenneth W. Whitten and Kenneth D. Gailey, General Chemistry. ©1981 by Saunders College Publishing.