in what type of orbital are the actinide and lanthanide electrons found
Actinide The actinide series derives its name from the first element in the series, actinium. The informal chemical symbol An is used in general discussions of actinide chemistry to refer to any actinide. All but one of the actinides are f-block elements, with the exception being either actinium or lawrencium. The series mostly corresponds to the filling of the 5f electron shell, although actinium and thorium lack any f-electrons, and curium and lawrencium have the same number as the preceding element. In comparison with the lanthanides, also mostly f-block elements, the actinides show much more variable valence. They all have very large atomic and ionic radii and exhibit an unusually large range of physical properties. While actinium and the late actinides (from americium onwards) behave similarly to the lanthanides, the elements thorium, protactinium, and uranium are much more similar to transition metals in their chemistry, with neptunium and plutonium occupying an intermediate position.
Valence electron The number of electrons in an atom's outermost valence shell governs its bonding behavior. Therefore, elements whose atoms can have the same number of valence electrons are grouped together in the periodic table of the elements. As a general rule, a main group element (except hydrogen or helium) tends to react to form a closed shell, corresponding to the electron configuration s2p6. This tendency is called the octet rule, because each bonded atom has eight valence electrons including shared electrons.