‘At the surface of a charged conductor electrostatic field must be normal to the surface at every point’. Explain.
‘At the surface of a charged conductor electrostatic field must be normal to the surface at every point’. Explain.
If $\overrightarrow{\mathrm{E}}$ were not normal to the surface, it would have some non-zero component along the surface. Free charges on the surface of the conductor would then experience force and move. Hence, conductor does not remains in stable situation.
Therefore, $\vec{E}$ should have no tangential component parallel to the surface in stable situation. Thus, electrostatic field at the surface of a charged conductor must be normal to the surface at every point. (For a conductor without any surface charge density, field is zero even at the surface).
$\left[\because 0=\frac{\sigma}{\epsilon_{0}}\right]$
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- [AIIMS 2002]