Question

To show the electron configuration for an atom, when would it be better to use an orbital notation than to use a written configuration with numbers, letters, and superscripts?
when the aim is to use less space
when the aim is to show electron spins
when the aim is to show orbital shapes in subshells
when the aim is to show electron distributions in shells

Answer 1

When you need to show electron spins.

Orbital notation (boxes with up/down arrows) shows each individual orbital and the spin of each electron. The written configuration (e.g., 1s^2 2s^2 2p^3) gives counts per subshell but not which orbitals are occupied or the spin directions.