In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the electron configuration is the arrangement of electrons in an atom, molecule, or other physical structure (e.g., a crystal). Like other elementary particles, the electron is subject to the laws of quantum mechanics, and exhibits both particle-like and wave-like nature. Formally, the quantum state of a particular electron is defined by its wavefunction, a complex-valued function of space and time. According to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, the position of a particular electron is not well defined until an act of measurement causes it to be detected. The probability that the act of measurement will detect the electron at a particular point in space is proportional to the square of the absolute value of the wavefunction at that point.
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A list showing how many electrons are in each orbital or subshell . There are several notations. The subshell notation lists subshells in order of increasing energy, with the number of electrons in each subshell indicated as a superscript. For example, 1s2 2s2 2p3 means "2 electrons in the 1s subshell, 2 electrons in the 2s subshell, and 3 electrons in the 2p subshell.