find the potential of the conductor

Q.) A point charge q = 1C is placed at a distance 10 metres from the center of a neutral conductor. What is the potential on the surface of the conductor ? Give proper explanations !

8 Answers

106
Asish Mahapatra ·

zero.. it was discussed a few days back

using the method of electrical image,

V(centre) = 0 .. (plane gets replaced by a charge at its mirror image point with same magnitude but different sign)

66
kaymant ·

Asish, are you sure? And isn't the answer dependent on the shape of the conductor?

106
Asish Mahapatra ·

sorry sir, i misread the question as at the middle of the conductor... then yeah it will depend..

66
kaymant ·

So what would be the potential of the conductor if it were a sphere having a radius less that 10 cm?

1
mentor_pankaj agarwal ·

no dude , the answer is not zero... the answer is kq/r.

soln : there will be induced charges on the conductor because of the point charge 'q'.
But the net charge on the conductor is still Zero. Hence the potential because of the induced charges at the center of the conductor is 0.
So at the center of the conductor, the net potential = 0 + kq/r = kq/r
Also the potential of a conductor is constant.So the potential on the surface is also kq/r

1
mentor_pankaj agarwal ·

the conductor is a sphere. sorry i forgot to mention that...

62
Lokesh Verma ·

Pankaj... Is the conductor a sphere! ?

1
varun.tinkle ·

what is there a prob in the answer

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