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CONDITIONS WHEN WE ARE WRITING SUBSHELL ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION?
A sub-shell is the set of states defined by a common azimuthal quantum number, ?, within a shell. The values ? = 0, 1, 2, 3 correspond to the s, p, d, and f labels, respectively. The maximum number of electrons which can be placed in a sub-shell is given by 2(2? + 1). This gives two electrons in an s sub-shell, six electrons in a p sub-shell, ten electrons in a d sub-shell and fourteen electrons in an f sub-shell.
For example:
The element Yttrium (symbolized as Y) is found in the fifth period and in group 3 making it a transition metal. In total it has thirty-nine electrons. Its electron configuration would be:
           1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d1


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