Lets say I have a point charge of magnitude $+q$, All around it I would have a symmetric radial electric field. Now if I place a neutral object lets say a sphere (doesn't matter insulating or conducting) in this field some distane away from the point charge. A negative charge will be induced on the object near the point charge and a positive charge on the opposite side.
No matter how small this induced charge is, due to the radial distance of the two (positive and negative) there must be an increase/decrease in net electric field on either side of the object and mostly everywhere else too !
I hope that what I am thinking is wrong, because we have not been taught that anything placed in electric field would affect the field itself regardless of it's nature. But I can't figure out what am I thinking wrong, how to solve this dilemma ?
Best Answer
If the material placed in the field of the positive charge is a conductor, the field will be distorted and the method to see the field is the image charges method. It will depend on the boundary conditions.
For a grounded conducting sphere
For a non grounded conductor:
If the field is created by a point charge the geometry will change but the physics is the same.
If you have a positive point charge and bring into its field a dielectric, then the field lines will change again depending on constants as :
One can again imagine the geometric changes for a field from a sphere.
In summary, the field distorts with the presence of matter, differently for a conductor or dielectric .