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n an atom, the first energy level can hold electrons. The second energy level can hold electrons. The third energy level can hold electrons.

User EMko
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Each shell can contain only a fixed number of electrons: The first shell can hold up to two electrons, the second shell can hold up to eight (2 + 6) electrons, the third shell can hold up to 18 (2 + 6 + 10) and so on. The general formula is that the nth shell can in principle hold up to 2(n2) electrons.

User Sikorski
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