Electrostatics basically means dealing with time independent electric fields (which was produced by stationary charges)
Now consider a neutral conductor. We know that putting a net negative charge on the conductor, the charge will very quickly spread over the surface till electrostatic equilibrium is reached.
What does this exactly mean? does it mean that electrons on the surface are not "moving" anymore and they become stationary? So in this situation we have 2 kinds of electrons: 1-electrons inside the meat of the conductor whose dynamics is described by quantum mechanics 2-electron on the surface which are not moving in the classical sense?
Best Answer
The electrons in a conductor are free, i.e. not bound in atoms, and have nonzero energy, so they move around. But we do not measure any macroscopic current because they move chaotically so that the contributions to the current from individual electrons cancels.