Misconceptions — Electrostatics — Notes | NoteTube

✗ Wrong Belief	✓ Correct Understanding
E = 0 inside any charged sphere	E = 0 only inside a conductor; inside uniformly charged insulator E = kQr/ $R^{3}$
Axial and equatorial dipole fields are equal	Axial field = 2 × equatorial field at same distance
Potential and field are zero at the same points	V = 0 at equatorial line of dipole; E ≠ 0 there
Inserting dielectric always increases voltage	Battery connected → V constant; battery disconnected → V decreases (V' = $\frac{V}{K}$ )
Energy in capacitor increases when battery disconnected and dielectric inserted	Energy decreases by factor K (U' = $\frac{U}{K}$ ); energy absorbed by dielectric polarization
Electric field lines enter a positive charge	Field lines emerge from +q and terminate on −q
Work done moving charge inside a conductor is non-zero	E = 0 inside conductor → F = 0 → W = 0 for any path inside
Gauss's law requires the charge to be on the Gaussian surface	Gaussian surface can enclose charge anywhere; only $q_{enc}$ matters
Coulomb's law applies to all charge distributions directly	Only valid for point charges; use integration or Gauss's law for distributions
The field between parallel plates increases with plate separation	E = σ/ε_{0} is independent of plate separation for infinite planes