For instance, you originally have 50 electrons at the outermost shell then filling up in the inner shells occur. Will the outermost shell retain that 50 electrons?
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I’m assuming that by “vacancy,” you’re talking about an inner shell electron being ejected/knocked out thus causing ionization, so I’ll explain with this assumption in mind.
Inner shell electrons, since they are closer to the positively charged nucleus, naturally require an extremely high-energy strike by a particle or whatever to be ejected from the atom, which always wants to be as electrically stable as possible.
But should such an event happen, say an extremely high-energy photon just happens to strike the proper cross section and flings that inner shell electron out into the void, this creates the “vacancy” you mentioned, or a hole. This hole can, speaking rather crudely, be considered to have a positive charge, creating an imbalance in the atom’s electrical stability.
So, to fix this instability, an electron from a higher orbit WILL indeed drop down into the shell with the vacancy to fill that hole. How this happens is governed by [the 3 major principles of electron configuration, explained here.](https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Quantum_Mechanics/10%3A_Multi-electron_Atoms/Electron_Configuration)
The electron decay cascades are what actually cause x-rays, which are very distinct from gamma rays due to the process by which the rays are created. Gamma rays are caused by a decay event *inside* of an atom’s nucleus releasing a photon, whereas x-rays are caused by the above mentioned decay cascade: as electrons decay down into lower orbital shells, they shed their excess energy by shedding a photon, creating x-rays.
Now, to the meat of the question. If, say, 32 inner shell vacancies were created during the ionization event(s), then 32 electrons will need to decay down to fill those holes, which will create 32 *new* vacancies in a higher orbital shell, which again must be filled.
This process will continue until all of the vacancies in the lower orbital shells are filled, which often leads to the atom’s valence shell (the outermost shell) not possessing all 50 electrons, to use your numbers.
TL;DR
Depending on how many inner orbital shell vacancies the ionization event(s) created, an electron decay cascade will occur until all the inner shell vacancies are filled, which can definitely lead to the valence electrons decaying down into the inner shells, leaving the outermost shell without enough electrons to maintain the atom’s electrical neutrality.
Hope this helped, and feel feel to ask anymore questions if I wasn’t clear on anything!
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