I get that in the first shell there are 2 electrons and then 8 in the next, but when can an atom have more that 8 electrons in its shells?

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Answer 1 · 2018-02-26T10:59:14

In its third shell or more.

A simple rule to follow, is that if #n# is the shell of an electron (energy level), it can hold a maximum of #2n^2# electrons.

So, we can setup an equation to show this:

#2n^2>8#

#n^2>4#

#n>2# (since #n>0#)

So, after the second shell, the atom can hold more than #8# electrons.

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