Inside a conductor placed in a static external electric field, what is the electric field in the conductor's interior?

Inside a conductor placed in a static external electric field, what is the electric field in the conductor's interior?

• A. The interior field E is zero due to charge rearrangement.
• B. The interior field E equals the external field.
• C. The interior field E doubles.
• D. The interior field E depends on the conductor's geometry.

Answer: (A)

When a conductor sits in a static external electric field, free charges within it rearrange themselves to cancel any field inside. The charges move to the surface and create an induced surface charge distribution that produces a field opposite to the external one. Together, these fields cancel everywhere inside the conductor, so the net electric field in the interior is zero. This also makes the interior potential uniform. The exact surface-charge pattern depends on the shape of the conductor, but the interior field remains zero for a static field.

When a conductor sits in a static external electric field, free charges within it rearrange themselves to cancel any field inside. The charges move to the surface and create an induced surface charge distribution that produces a field opposite to the external one. Together, these fields cancel everywhere inside the conductor, so the net electric field in the interior is zero. This also makes the interior potential uniform. The exact surface-charge pattern depends on the shape of the conductor, but the interior field remains zero for a static field.