Charged Conductor and Charged Insulator

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Understanding the Conductor and Insulator is the foundation and crucial to fully understand the polarization problem.


Basic

All materials are made of atoms that contains electrons and protons. However, at the microscopic level there can be difference in structure that lead to very different behavior when they are exposed to electric field. Conductor and Insulator is what are discussed in the physics 2 classes.

Conductor

A conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow of electrical current in one or more directions.

Insulator

An electrical insulator is a material whose internal electric charges do not flow freely, and therefore make it nearly impossible to conduct an electric current under the influence of an electric field.

Charge on Conductor

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Sphere Conductor

An object made of a conducting material will permit charge to be transferred across the entire surface of the object. If charge is transferred to the object at a given location, that charge is quickly distributed across the entire surface of the object. The distribution of charge is the result of electron movement. Since conductors allow for electrons to be transported from particle to particle, a charged object will always distribute its charge until the overall repulsive forces between excess electrons is minimized.

If the conductor is spherical, charge is evenly distributed on the outside surface.


If the conductor is not spherical, surface charge density is higher where radius of curvature is smaller. (i.e on sharp points or corner of conductor.)

Insulator

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