Electrons are a stable subatomic molecule with a charge of negative power, and is found in all atoms and going about as the essential transporter of power in solids. Negatively charged electrons occupy the space around nuclei, the nucleus of an atom (which contains protons, which are positively-charged particles, as well as neutrons that have no charge), in varying energy levels. The reason they inhibit the area around the nucleus is essentially quantum mechanical.
For example, the element Cobalt's (Co) most common isotope is Cobalt-59, which has 27 protons and 32 neutrons in the nucleus. The number of protons in an element is almost always equal to it's number of electrons; therefore (in it's most basic presentation) Cobalt has 27 electrons spread across 4 electron shells and is depicted this way visually (see Figure A).
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Fig. A
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