Question

If there is a cavity inside a conductor with no charge in it, what is the electric field in there?

What is Faraday’s ice pail experiment?

What is the work principle of Van de Graaff electrostatic generator?

What is electrostatic shielding?

Why lightning bolts are vertical?

A hollow conducting sphere has no net charge. There is a positive point charge at the center of the spherical cavity within the sphere. You connect a conducting wire from the outside of the sphere to ground. Will you measure an electric field outside the sphere? Explain.

Answer 1

2.

Faraday's ice pail experiment

It demonstrates the effect of electrostatic induction on a conducting container. For a container, Faraday used a metal pail made to hold ice, which gave the experiment its name.The experiment shows that an electric charge enclosed inside a conducting shell induces an equal charge on the shell, and that in an electrically conducting body, the charge resides entirely on the surface.It also demonstrates the principles behind electromagnetic shielding such as employed in the Faraday cage.

3.

Faraday’s ice pail experiment is the basic principle for Van de Graaff electrostatic generator. Here charge is stored on the outer surface of shell and generate high potential which can be used to accelerate an electron.

4.

There is no electric shock inside the conducting container this is electrostatic shielding. This is due to the fact that total chrage is only stored on the surface of conductor not inside. Hence E-field is zero inside the conductor.

5.

The lightning bolts are vertical since electricity has tendency to follow the shortest route. The shock waves nearer to the ground reach your ear first.