Friday, 24 July 2020

electrostatics - Why do charges on the sphere not fly?


Consider a uniformly charged conducting sphere. The E just outside the sphere is σ/ϵ0 and inside the sphere is zero. What about at a point ON the sphere? Here we consider the smallest unit of charge is dq not e (A classical electrostatics case).


What is the electric field experienced by the charge element dQ (the red dot on the sphere)


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I have included five representative charge elements on the sphere and their respective fields on the red dot. By principle of superposition of electric fields one can assume that at the red dot there is a non-zero radial field. So, shouldn't the charge element just fly off?


Enet at red dot = E due to charge at yellow dot + E due to charge at blue dot and so on




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