I Confusion regarding insulator and conductors

AI Thread Summary
In physics textbooks, terms like 'metallic' and 'metal' typically indicate that the material is a conductor. This understanding is crucial for solving problems involving electric fields, as demonstrated by a scenario where the electric field between two concentric hollow spheres is zero, relying on the properties of conductors. The assumption that 'metallic' implies conductivity is widely accepted. Therefore, when encountering such terminology, it is reasonable to treat the material as a conductor in problem-solving contexts. This clarity helps in accurately applying principles of electricity and magnetism.
chaos333
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In textbooks, are words such as 'metallic', 'metal', etc indicating to the person doing the problem that the material in question is a conductor? This one problem said 'metallic' and the answers were as if it were a conductor with the electric field between 2 concentric hollow spheres being 0 and the outside of the entire thing just being dependent on the surface charge of the outer hollow sphere-- properties of a conductor.
 
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chaos333 said:
In textbooks, are words such as 'metallic', 'metal', etc indicating to the person doing the problem that the material in question is a conductor?
Yes. Metals are electrically conductive materials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal
 

Thread 'Maxwell stress tensor'

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Thread 'Applying the Gauss (1835) formula for force between 2 parallel DC currents'

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Please can anyone either:- (1) point me to a derivation of the perpendicular force (Fy) between two very long parallel wires carrying steady currents utilising the formula of Gauss for the force F along the line r between 2 charges? Or alternatively (2) point out where I have gone wrong in my method? I am having problems with calculating the direction and magnitude of the force as expected from modern (Biot-Savart-Maxwell-Lorentz) formula. Here is my method and results so far:- This...
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