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In any atom, the electrons that have the most energy are the outermost, because the greater energy an electron has, the greater its velocity, and when anything has greater velocity, it has a greater momentum and a greater orbit.

Think of a planet orbiting the sun. If the planet were faster, it would start to have greater inertia and be affected by the sun's gravity less, causing the orbital radius to increase.

The case is similar with electrons. Since energy gives electrons a higher velocity, they start to orbit farther away from the nucleus. Therefore, the electrons in the outermost energy level or orbital always have the greatest energy and are less stable because of it.

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An atom has multiple energy levels. When an atom has more electrons than it can fit into an energy level, then it puts them into the next higher energy level.


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