Question

1. The electric potential inside a conductor in equilibrium is (constant or zero?) 2. How would you check whether an electrode is perfectly conductive?

Answer 1

1. When a conductor is at equilibrium, the electric field inside it is constrained to be zero. Since the electric field is equal to the rate of change of potential, this implies that the voltage inside a conductor at equilibrium is constrained to be constant at the value it reaches the surface of the conductor. Therefore, electric potential inside a conductor in equilibrium is constant.

2. Conductivity is measured by using a conductivity cell to make a measurement of the electrical resistance. The simplest kind of measuring cell used consists of two similar electrodes. An alternating voltage applied to one of the conductivity electrodes causes the ions in the solution to migrate towards the electrodes. The more ions in the electrode, the greater the current which flows between the conductivity electrodes. The conductivity meter measures the current produced by the conductivity cell and uses Ohm's law to calculate the conductance of an electrode.

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