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Physics
Classical Physics
Electromagnetism
Location of electrons (not excess charge) in a conductor [static case]
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[QUOTE="Kostik, post: 6421446, member: 568614"] In a conductor, excess charge resides on the surface. That seems odd, because one would think that the overall energy of the system could be lowered by allowing some of the excess charge to move inward and away from all the charge on the surface, but obviously that can't be true, because charge inside the conductor would create a field that causes other charges to move. (I suppose a [B][I]single[/I][/B] excess point charge could disengage from the surface and take up residence inside the conductor, but only one!) My question concerns the free electrons that belong to the atoms in the conducting material. Suppose there is [B][I]no [/I][/B]excess charge in the conductor: just a solid block of copper. Are the free electrons distributed uniformly throughout the material? Every copper atom looks neutral to an electron located far away from it, so I suppose there are no forces present that would act on the free electrons, other than the coloumb force of the nucleus to which it is nominally attached. [/QUOTE]
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Physics
Classical Physics
Electromagnetism
Location of electrons (not excess charge) in a conductor [static case]
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