holds at most 6 electrons
* Each d subshell holds at most 10 electrons
* Each f subshell holds at most 14 electrons
* Each g subshell holds at most 18 electrons

Therefore, the K shell, which contains only an s subshell, can hold up to 2 electrons; the L shell, which contains an s and a p, can hold up to 2 + 6 = 8 electrons, and so forth; in general, the ''n''th shell can hold up to 2''n''² electrons.

Although that formula gives the maximum in principle, that maximum

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