In order of decreasing penetration, the subshells are s > p > d > f. A 1s orbital penetrates better than a 2s orbital.
electrons in the shell with the highest value of n. For example, sodium's ground state electron configuration is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1; the 3s electron is the only valence electron in the atom. Germanium (Ge) has the ground state electron configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p2; the 4s and 4p electrons are the valence electrons.