Inside a conductor, the electric field is always zero. This means that there is no net force acting on charges inside a conductor, and they are in electrostatic equilibrium.
Think of a calm lake surrounded by mountains. Inside the lake, the water is still and undisturbed because the surrounding mountains shield it from external forces. Similarly, inside a conductor, charges are undisturbed because the conducting material shields them from external electric fields.
Electrostatic Equilibrium: Electrostatic equilibrium refers to a state where all charges within a system are at rest and experience no net force.
Gauss's Law: Gauss's law relates the electric flux through a closed surface to the charge enclosed within that surface.
Induced Charges: Induced charges are charges that appear on an object due to the presence of an external charged object nearby.
Study guides for the entire semester
200k practice questions
Glossary of 50k key terms - memorize important vocab
© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.
AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.