The principle quantum number determines to which shell the
electron belongs:
K( L(
M(
, N(
The subshells are named:
(
),
(
),
(
),
(
)
For the K shell, only the subshell is possible - so there are
two possible electrons corresponding to
and
.
For the L shell, we can have an subshell with 2 electrons and
6 from the
subshells (
).
So in all, 8 electrons may reside in this shell.
Likewise, the M shell can hold 18, and the N shell, 32.