Practice question · Put in order
Arrange these consequences of electrostatic equilibrium in the order they logically follow from one another.
- The whole conductor is at a single potential
- Charges have stopped moving, so equilibrium holds
- The charge density inside must be zero, so charge sits on the surface
- The field inside the conductor must be zero
Hints
- Start from the definition of equilibrium itself.
- Zero interior field is what forces both the surface-only charge and the single potential.
Show the answer
- Charges have stopped moving, so equilibrium holds
- The field inside the conductor must be zero
- The charge density inside must be zero, so charge sits on the surface
- The whole conductor is at a single potential
Why
Equilibrium means nothing moves, which forces zero interior field; zero field forces zero interior charge density by Gauss’s law, pushing all charge to the surface; and with no interior field there is no potential difference anywhere inside.
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