Question

A spherical conductor of radius 12 cm has a charge of 1.6 × 10⁻⁷C distributed uniformly on its surface. What is the electric field

(a) Inside the sphere

(b) Just outside the sphere

(c) At a point 18 cm from the centre of the sphere?

Answer 1

(a) Radius of the spherical conductor, r = 12 cm = 0.12 m

Charge is uniformly distributed over the conductor, q = 1.6 × 10⁻⁷ C

Electric field inside a spherical conductor is zero. This is because if there is field inside the conductor, then charges will move to neutralize it.

(b) Electric field E just outside the conductor is given by the relation,

Where,

= Permittivity of free space

Therefore, the electric field just outside the sphere is .

(c) Electric field at a point 18 m from the centre of the sphere = E₁

Distance of the point from the centre, d = 18 cm = 0.18 m

Therefore, the electric field at a point 18 cm from the centre of the sphere is

.