What Is the Charge Distribution on the External Surface of a Conducting Sphere?

[Qubix]

Homework Statement

Ok, so I have a charge inside a conducting sphere. I managed to calculate the electric potential inside the sphere, and also the surface charge distribution, on the interior surface of the sphere.

Homework Equations

How can I calculate the charge distribution on the external surface of the sphere?

 

[kuruman]

Is the conducting sphere initially electrically neutral or does it have some charge?

 

[Qubix]

Is the conducting sphere initially electrically neutral or does it have some charge?

The sphere is initially neutral. All the charge on it is induced by the point-like charge inside it.

 

[nickjer]

What is the net charge of the inner surface (assuming you already solved it, you are sorely lacking details)? Then what does this make the net charge inside of the outer surface? Then, using Gauss's law, what should the charge distribution on the surface be?

Hopefully you understand my line of thinking, since I was given little info to work off of.

 

[kuruman]

More to the point, if you found that there is induced charge, say Q, on the inner surface and you know that the sphere was initially neutral, what do you think the total charge on the sphere is? Is it still zero or something else?