electrons

Why does an atom’s shell specifically contain, 2, 8, 8, etcetera, electrons?
Answered by Jeremy Garrett, MA Physics
 
“Take a circle, measure the outside (the circumference), then draw a straight line of that length. Now draw a wave that starts at one end [of the line] and finishes at the other [end] — be sure to draw a single full wave with one up (crest) and one down (trough).
“Take this drawing (or make a new one) and have it follow the original circle rather than the straight line. You just made an “S-orbit” (or spherical orbit)!
“Go around clockwise, then make a new wave going around counterclockwise. Now you’ve made a pair of electron orbits in the “S-orbit” form. You’ve now modeled hydrogen (if you only drew one) or helium if you drew both!
“Do the same thing but this time make two full waves (up one octave) instead of only one full wave. The original s-orbit drawing looks like a circle that is offset from the original (kind of Bohr-ing, ha ha). The p-orbital forms the shape of a bowling pin.
“To fill the space in your drawing, you can shift over and make 3 of the bowling-pin shapes. You can then go clockwise and counterclockwise with both; doing so gives you 6 more orbits. Ta da, 2 + 6 = 8. It’s that simple.
“If you go up another octave you get the d-orbitals, and one more gives you the f-orbitals.
“Wolfram Alpha is one of several sites that lets you draw these with a computer rather than having to do it by hand.”

Sound like music? That’s why Quora electrifies me.