Metal Wire in Equilibrium & Steady-State

[feedmeister]

Hi all,

I've been struggling with the concept of equilibrium and steady state in a metal wire. Can anyone of you please help me get this important concept down?

I'd really appreciate it. --

Homework Statement

Which of the following statements about a metal wire in equilibrium are true? Select all that apply.

1. There are no excess charges in the interior of the wire.
2. The net electric field everywhere inside the wire is zero.
3. The electric field inside the wire may be nonzero but uniform.
4. There cannot be excess charges on the surface of the wire.
5. There may be a constant flow of mobile electrons inside the wire.
6. There may be excess charges on the surface of the wire.
7. The interior of the metal wire is neutral.
8. There is no net flow of mobile electrons inside the wire.
9. There may be excess charges in the interior of the wire.

Which of the following statements about a metal wire in the steady state are true? Select all that apply.

1. There may be a nonzero, uniform electric field inside the wire.
2. There is no net flow of mobile electrons inside the wire.
3. The net electric field everywhere inside the wire is zero.
4. There may be excess charges on the surface of the wire.
5. There cannot be excess charges on the surface of the wire.
6. The interior of the metal wire is neutral.
7. There are no excess charges in the interior of the wire.
8. There is a constant flow of mobile electrons inside the wire.
9. There may be excess charges in the interior of the wire.

The Attempt at a Solution

To be honest, I've tried searching the book, but I guess I might have been too hasty to post online so quickly, but I really want to understand what's going on, and I've been trying to figure this out for the last half hour and it's driving me nuts. Here are the combinations I tried so far for each question.

Metal Wire in Equilibrium:
Try 1: 2,4,7,8
Try 2: 1,2,4,7,8
Try 3: 1,2,4,5,7,8

Metal Wire in Steady-State:
Try 1: 1,4
Try 2: 1,4,8
Try 3: 1,4,8,9

Hopefully someone can quickly help me understand what is going on in Steady State and Equilibrium. I'd really appreciate a fast response.

Thanks and best regards,

 

[RoboticNerd]

I'm having difficulty with the exact same question at the moment. Yippee. any thoughts?

 

[yoyoz41]

mee too I have the same problems on this one too

 

[scycon]

I got the answer to the steady state problem but I don't know the other one.

There are no excess charges in the interior of the wire.
There is a constant flow of mobile electrons inside the wire.
There may be excess charges on the surface of the wire.
There may be a nonzero, uniform electric field inside the wire.
The interior of the metal wire is neutral.

Thoughts on the equilibrium problem?

 

[cbougher]

These are the correct choices...
"Which of the following statements about a metal wire in equilibrium are true? Select all that apply."
The net electric field everywhere inside the wire is zero.
There are no excess charges in the interior of the wire.
The interior of the metal wire is neutral.
There is no net flow of mobile electrons inside the wire.
There may be excess charges on the surface of the wire.