Question

How many electrons can be held in the second orbital (closest to the nucleus)

Answer 1

A valence electron structure would be like this 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 etc 
1s^2 would be 2, 2s^2 would be 4, 2p^6 would be 12 and so on and so forth.

Answer 2

The orbital is called an energy level and they follow an 2/8/8 rule.
2 in the first
8 in the second
and
8 in the third.
so 8 would be the answer.