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Section 24.4 Conductors
Activity 24.4.1 . Warm-Up Activity.
(a) Describe how you would expect the charges in the conductor to distribute themselves in the presence of the large positive charge.
(b) Together, the large positive charge and the charges in the conductor will create a net electric field everywhere in space. Predict the direction of this net electric field at the center of the square conductor.
(c) Click on
this link to view a video demonstrating what happens in case like the one described above.
(d) Has your thinking about the electric field at the center of the conductor changed? If so, explain how and why it has changed.
Video Lesson 24.4.2 . Conductors.
Conductors are extremely useful objects that interact in interesting ways with an external electric field.
Definition 24.4.3 . Conductors.
A
conductor is an object that possesses free electric charges that move in response to an external electric field in such a way that the electric field everywhere inside the conductor is zero.
Activity 24.4.2 . Conductor in an Electric Field.
(a) What direction is the net electric field at each point inside the conductor? Explain your reasoning.
(b) Do you think the electric potential difference between points A and B is positive, negative, or zero? Explain your reasoning.
Conductors have many interesting properties, which are summarized in the video below.
Video Lesson 24.4.5 . Rules for Conductors.
References References
[1]
"MIT Physics Demo -- Faraday’s Cage"
YouTube , uploaded by mittechtv, 20 November 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqvImbn9GG4&ab_channel=mittechtv
