It could. You’ve been deceived by.
It’s not since your instructors are bad however. The thought of teaching about orbitals when you’re using this swap and drop technique would make both your teacher and you headaches!
Shells are divided into orbitals that have two electrons are occupying each. (This is the reason it is necessary to pair electrons in drawing). The first shell is able to hold two electrons since it has one orbital, which is called 1s. The second shell is equipped with this orbital (2s) however it also has the p orbital. While the s orbital encompasses the entire atom, orbitals for p cover it in a single dimension. There are three p orbitals in the second shell. They hold six electrons. 2s + 2p = 2 + 6 = 8 electrons.
The basic chemistry curriculum doesn’t cover this since it’s not until following Calcium that things begin to get strange. There are many more orbital rules. Here are a few of them:
- They’re more steady when orbitals are full
- Zinc, Zinc, etc form 2+ ions when they are able to eliminate the’s orbital (containing two electrons) within their outer shells.
- Certain metals are vibrant because electrons are able to shift orbitals after exposure to light, and emit various colors
- Noble gases are actually able to react
In short the valence shell may contain more than eight electrons however, only for elements that have more number of atomic numbers. It’s impossible to learn this information in a single session!