Final answer:
The statement is true; electrons fill the lowest available energy levels first, adhering to the maximum number of two electrons per orbital, following the Aufbau principle.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement the student has presented is true. In chemistry, when we talk about the arrangement of electrons within an atom, there are several principles that guide this distribution. Electrons occupy energy levels also known as electron shells, which are concentric regions around the nucleus where electrons are most likely to be found.
According to the Aufbau principle, electrons are added to the lowest energy level first. This principle outlines that orbitals are filled with electrons in order of increasing energy levels, starting from the closest orbital to the nucleus. Each atom's energy level can accommodate a certain maximum number of electrons determined by its number of orbitals, applying the rule that each orbital can contain at most two electrons.
For example, the first energy level (closest to the nucleus) can hold up to two electrons, while the second energy level can hold up to eight - a configuration often associated with the octet rule, which suggests that atoms are most stable when they have eight electrons in their outermost energy level. This pattern of filling ensures that atoms achieve the lowest energy and most stable electron configuration possible.