Interesting video

Topic 1 - E and V field of a charged spherical conductor

When any conductor is charged, all electric charges reside on
the surface.

Reason: same charges repel each other until they are in

equilibrium.

The net E field inside the conductor is zero.

Reason: if the net E field inside is not zero, free electrons

inside the conductor will experience a nonzero net force.
The electrons would continue to move, until the net force
exerted on them is zero, which means net E field inside the
conductor is zero.

The interior and the surface of the conductor are at the same
potential.

Reason: since the E field is zero within the surface of the

sphere, the V field has the same value at all points on the
sphere, according to

△𝑉 =− ∫ 𝐸 · 𝑑𝑟

𝑅
△𝑉 =− ∫ 0 · 𝑑𝑟
0

△𝑉 = 0
* △V=0 does NOT mean V field inside is zero!
𝑉𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 − 𝑉𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 0
𝑉𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 𝑉𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒
The V field inside and on the surface of the conductor can be
determined using shell theorem / Gauss’s Law.

Reason: at any location on the surface of the conductor, we can

consider it to be outside the conductor. Using the shell
theorem, we can consider the conductor to be a point-like
object. ( ͡ ° ͜ʖ ͡ °)
𝑘𝑄
𝑉𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 𝑅

From the previous point we know 𝑉 = 𝑉𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒

𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒
Therefore:
𝑘𝑄
𝑉𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 𝑉𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 𝑅

Apply Shell Theorem/Gauss’s Law

The E field at the surface of the conductor is perpendicular to

that surface.

Reason: If there were an E field component parallel to the

surface, it would cause mobile charge to move along the
surface, in violation of the assumption of equilibrium.
 Graph - Conductor

Within the spherical conductor, the E field is Within the spherical conductor, the E field is
zero. zero.
𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 0 ∆𝑉 =− ∫0 · 𝑑𝑟
 ∆𝑉 = 0
𝑘𝑄
𝑉𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 𝑉𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 𝑅

Outside the spherical conductor, use the shell

Outside the spherical conductor, use the shell
theorem
theorem
𝑘𝑄
𝐸𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 2
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 =
𝑘𝑄
𝑟 𝑟

Graph - Dielectric

Within the spherical insulator, the E field can Within the spherical insulator, the E field can
be any equation. be any equation.
𝑘𝑄 𝑘(ρ𝑣)
𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 2
𝑉𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 =− ∫ 2 · 𝑑𝑟
𝑟 𝑟

𝐸𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 =
𝑘 Charge density (ρ) can be any equation.
2
𝑟
Charge density (ρ) can be any equation.

Outside the spherical insulator, using the shell Outside the spherical insulator, use the shell
theorem, theorem,
𝑘𝑄 𝑘𝑄
𝐸𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 = 2 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 =
𝑟 𝑟
Topic 2 - Grounding
1.​ If two spherical conductors are connected with a long metal wire, electrons will
move between and within the spheres until the V field on the surfaces of and
within both spheres achieves the same value.
●​ Reason: As long as there is potential difference between the spheres, there
will be a net force exerted on an electron and it will continue to accelerate;
the process stops when the electrons are in equilibrium (aka the same V
field).

ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ
ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ
2.​ When two spheres are connected, the bigger sphere has a greater electric charge
than the smaller sphere.
●​ Reason: assume two spherical conductors with radius R and 10R.

𝑘𝑄𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒
𝑉𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 = 𝑅

𝑉𝐵𝐼𝐺 = 𝑉𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙

𝑘𝑄𝐵𝐼𝐺 𝑘𝑄𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙
𝑅𝐵𝐼𝐺
= 𝑅𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙

𝑄𝐵𝐼𝐺 𝑅𝐵𝐼𝐺
𝑄𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙
= 𝑅𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙

𝑄𝐵𝐼𝐺 10
𝑄𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙
= 1
ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ
ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ
3.​ The E field lines will be denser on the surface of the small sphere and the E field
will be stronger.
●​ Reason: assume two spherical conductors with radius R and 10R.

The charge on the smaller sphere is 10 times less than the charge on the
bigger sphere. We can say Qsmalll = q and QBIG = 10 q.
𝑄𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑄𝑏𝑖𝑔
σ𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 𝐴𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙
σ𝑏𝑖𝑔 = 𝐴𝑏𝑖𝑔
𝑞 10𝑞
σ𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 2 σ𝑏𝑖𝑔 = 2
4π(𝑅) 4π(10𝑅)
𝑞 𝑞
σ𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 2 σ𝑏𝑖𝑔 = 2
4π𝑅 40π𝑅

From the calculation above, we can see the charge density is higher on the
small spherical conductor.
●​ Application: lighting rod is pointy. Use the logic above to explain why.

Topic 3 - Electrostatic Shielding

Two important consequences of Gauss’s Law are evident:
The electrostatic field inside any isolated conductor is always zero.
Cavities inside conductors are shielded from electric fields.
Step 1: A neutral conductor is about to enter an E field (we use a uniform E field here, but
whether the E field is uniform or not does not matter).

Step 2: The free electrons inside the object redistribute due to electric forces, producing
their own contribution E1 to the E field.

Step 3: This continues until the net E field within the conducting object is reduced to zero
and the field outside the conductor has field lines perpendicular to the surface of the
conductor.