An atom has protons and electrons. Protons are placed in the nucleus of the atom while electrons are located in the orbital shell of the atom. The way these electrons are positioned is known as the electron configuration. Each level can hold a certain amount of electrons before moving to the next level. In the electron configuration, four letters are used as subshells to indicate how many electrons the layer can hold before moving on to the next one in the orbital. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. These subshells are s, p, d and f. The s-subshell block consists of the first two left columns and the rightmost six columns of the table are known as the p-subshell block. The d subshell block consists of the ten central columns and the f subshell block consists of the fourteen separate columns filled with the lanthanoids and actinoids. An electronic configuration looks like this: 1s22s22p63s23p2 This is the electronic configuration of the element, silicon. The superscript, written as (x) in the configuration (e.g. 2s(x)) represents the number of electrons in the sublayer. The first level contains 2 electrons. The second shell consists of the “2s” and “2p” subshells. The s sublevel can hold a maximum of 2 electrons while the p sublevel can hold a maximum of 6 electrons. Together they form the second electron level, which can hold a maximum of 8 electrons before moving to the next level. In the periodic table, elements are grouped based on a number of different factors. Some factors are: The number of orbital shells surrounding the atom. For example: the descending order of the sixth column (the noble gases) in the "p" block shows that Neon has two shells, Argon has three shells, Krypton has four shells and so on... The increasing number of electrons in the shells. Going through the periodic table we see that the atomic number increases. This number represents the number of electrons in the atom, so hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table because it has 1 electron and the last element, Oganesson, has 118 electrons. The final subshell. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay For example: Lithium is in the “s” block because its electron configuration ends in “3s1”. Sulfur is found in the “p” block because its electronic configuration ends in “3p4” etc. In conclusion, the electronic configuration of the element shows how that atom can react with another atom in a different element. Its position in the periodic table also helps identify similarities with other elements in that group. Their grouping (s-block, p-block, etc.) reveals that elements of that group may or may not readily react with another element within the same group or in a different group. Show the similarities between these elements. Works Cited Chang, R. (2010). Chemistry (10th ed.). McGraw Hill.Housecroft, C. E., & Sharpe, A. G. (2018). Inorganic Chemistry (5th ed.). Pearson.Huheey, J. E., Keiter, E. A., & Keiter, R. L. (2014). Inorganic Chemistry: Principles of Structure and Reactivity (4th ed.). Pearson.Kotz, J.C., Treichel Jr., P.M., & Townsend, J.R. (2016). Chemistry and chemical reactivity (9th ed.). Cengage Learning. Martin, G. J., & Cockett, M. C. R. (2000). Essential Chemistry for Cambridge IGCSE (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.McMurry, J., & Fay, R. C. (2017). Chemistry (7th ed.). Pearson.Moore, J.W., & Stanitski, C.L. (2017). Chemistry: The Molecular Science (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. Petrucci, R.H., Herring, F.G., Madura, J.D., & Bissonnette, C. (2017). General Chemistry: Modern Principles and Applications (11th ed.). Pearson. Silberberg, M. S. (2016). Chemistry: molecular nature.