Why energy levels named k l m n o p?

Answer 1

It is all because of a man named Charles Barkla. He was measuring the energy levels of X-rays, and noticed that they came in two main categories, one of which had a higher energy level than the other. He first called them A and B, then realized that there might be levels higher than the one he had called "A". Wanting to leave some room, he decided that K would be a good starting point, and if he later discovered an even higher energy levels he could call them J, I, H and so on down.

It turns out there aren't... the K-series was the highest possible energy level for a given atom. But the name had stuck by that point.

Answer 2

The energy levels in an atom are named using letters to represent different shells where electrons can be found. The letters k, l, m, n, o, and p correspond to the different shells in ascending order of energy. Each shell can hold a certain number of electrons based on its energy level.