I want to know the electric field of an uniformly charged non-conducting spherical shell.
I know that in case of conductors(metals),the sphere can be shell or it can be solid,but in both the cases ,the charge resides at the surface,so I can easily get the electric field.
But,in case of non-conductors,if the sphere is solid,then the charge is all throughout distributed,so I can easily get the electric field.
But,I want to know if any spherical shell(empty inside) is non-conductor,then what is the electric field?
Best Answer
The electrostatic field depends only on the total charge distribution. If the charge distribution is known, as it is in your case, then you don't need to worry about the shape or conductivity of the structure supporting the charge.
The charge on a conducting solid sphere will, as you say, distribute evenly at the surface. If you by some other method manage to distribute the same charge evenly on a non-conducting sperical shell then you will see the same electric field: Zero inside and that of a point charge outside.