If a small amount of negative charge is placed near an electrically neutral insulating material, where does the charge reside seconds later?

If a small amount of negative charge is placed near an electrically neutral insulating material, where does the charge reside seconds later?

• A. All of it remains at the given point.
• B. It spreads evenly over the surface.
• C. It flows away into the surroundings.
• D. It relocates to neutralize the material.

Answer: (A)

Charges on an insulating material don’t have a free path to move. If you place a small negative charge near a neutral insulator, the only real change is that the bound charges inside the material rearrange slightly (polarization) to create a tiny dipole, but the external negative charge itself stays where you put it. There’s no conduction path for it to spread along a surface or flow away into the surroundings, and no mechanism for it to “neutralize” the material by relocating. So the charge remains at the same point.

Charges on an insulating material don’t have a free path to move. If you place a small negative charge near a neutral insulator, the only real change is that the bound charges inside the material rearrange slightly (polarization) to create a tiny dipole, but the external negative charge itself stays where you put it. There’s no conduction path for it to spread along a surface or flow away into the surroundings, and no mechanism for it to “neutralize” the material by relocating. So the charge remains at the same point.