Why does the charge uniformly distributed on the surface of the sphere only?

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cdymdcool
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1. A solid conducting sphere is given a positive charge Q. Why is the charge uniformly distributed on the surface of the sphere only?



Homework Equations





3. I know there are electron clous where electrons hang out, but what happen when the sphere is given a positive charge? I don't think protons comes to the surface or anything like that...
 
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cdymdcool said:
1. A solid conducting sphere is given a positive charge Q. Why is the charge uniformly distributed on the surface of the sphere only?

Homework Equations


3. I know there are electron clous where electrons hang out, but what happen when the sphere is given a positive charge? I don't think protons comes to the surface or anything like that...

The electric field inside a conductor must be zero, so there can be no charge inside the sphere. The remaining charges array themselves on the surface until there is no field inside the sphere, and the only way that can work is if they are concentrated uniformly on that surface.
 
But why aren't the charges uniformly distributed throughout the sphere?