PTR/EM-04001 Properties of Conductors

An ideal conductor in electrostatics has the following important properties.

1. Conductors has electrons that  move freely inside the body of the conductor
2.  A conductor is an equipotential surface. The electric potential is constant throughout the 
   body of a conductor.
   
3. In side the body of a conductor the electric field is zero.
4. There cannot be any charge inside the body of a conductor.
5. The charge density resides on the external surface.
6. The electric field just outside the conductor is normal to the surface and is given by \(\sigma/\epsilon_0\), where \(\sigma\) the surface charge density.
7. The electric  field inside an empty cavity in the body of a conductor is zero.
8. A cavity inside the body of a conductor is shielded from the electrostatic field out
   side the conductor.