The Aufbau principle is used to determine the electron configuration

Electron configuration

In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, electron configuration is the arrangement of electrons of an atom, a molecule, or other physical structure...

 of an atom

Atom

The atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...

, molecule

Molecule

A molecule is an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms held together by covalent chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from ions by their electrical charge...

 or ion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...

. The principle postulates a hypothetical process in which an atom is "built up" by progressively adding electrons. As they are added, they assume their most stable conditions (electron orbital

Electron orbital

An electron orbital may refer to:* An atomic orbital, describing the behaviour of an electron in an atom* A molecular orbital, describing the behaviour of an electron in a molecule- See also :...

s) with respect to the nucleus and those electrons already there.

According to the principle, electron

Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...

s fill orbitals starting at the lowest available (possible) energy states before filling higher states (e.g.