What is the electronic configuration of oxygen? 

2,6

The correct answer is option 1. 2,6.

The electronic configuration of an element describes how its electrons are distributed among its various atomic orbitals or electron shells. For oxygen, which has the atomic number 8, the electronic configuration is as follows:

1. The first shell, which can hold a maximum of 2 electrons, is filled first. Therefore, the first two electrons of oxygen occupy the 1s orbital. This is represented as "2" in the electronic configuration.

2. The remaining 6 electrons of oxygen are then placed in the second shell. The second shell consists of both the 2s and 2p orbitals. Specifically, the 2s orbital can hold up to 2 electrons, and the 2p orbital can hold up to 6 electrons (2 electrons per subshell). Therefore, the 6 electrons of oxygen are distributed among the 2s and 2p orbitals. This is represented as "6" in the electronic configuration.

Putting it all together, the electronic configuration of oxygen is "2, 6", indicating that there are 2 electrons in the first shell and 6 electrons in the second shell.

This arrangement allows oxygen to achieve a stable electron configuration by filling its outer shell with a total of 8 electrons, which is the same as the nearest noble gas, neon.