Part of ES-01 — Electrostatics

Electrostatics — Common Errors and How to Avoid Them

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  • E = 0 inside any sphere: WRONG. It is zero only inside a conductor. Inside a uniformly charged insulating sphere, E = kQr/R3R^{3} (non-zero and increasing with r).

  • Axial and equatorial fields of a dipole are equal: WRONG. E_axial = 2kp/r3r^{3} is exactly twice E_equatorial = kp/r3r^{3}. The factor of 2 is among the most commonly missed facts in NEET dipole questions.

  • Inserting a dielectric always increases energy: WRONG. With battery disconnected, energy decreases to U/K. Energy is only increased (by factor K) when battery remains connected.

  • Series capacitors share the same voltage: WRONG. In series all capacitors carry the same charge Q, but voltages divide in inverse proportion to capacitance. Parallel capacitors share the same voltage.

  • The smaller capacitor in parallel stores more energy: WRONG. In parallel (same V), U = ½CV2CV^{2} so larger C stores more. In series (same Q), U = Q2Q^{2}/2C so smaller C stores more.

  • Potential is zero wherever the electric field is zero: WRONG. V = 0 at the equatorial line of a dipole where E ≠ 0. V and E are related by E = −dV/dr, not by direct equality.

  • Work is done moving a charge inside a conductor: WRONG. Since E = 0 inside, F = qE = 0, so no work is done for any path inside a conductor.

  • Coulomb's law can be directly applied to extended charge distributions: WRONG. It applies strictly to point charges. For distributions, integration or Gauss's law is required.

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