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Conductors contain mobile charge carriers. In metallic conductors, these charge carriers are electrons. In a metal, the outer (valence) electrons part away from their atoms and are free to move. These electrons are free within the metal but not free to leave the metal.

In an external electric field, they drift against the direction of the field. The positive ions made up of the nuclei and the bound electrons remain held in their fixed positions. In electrolytic conductors, the charge carriers are both positive and negative ions. Some of the important points about the electrostatic properties of a conductor are as follows:

I. The electrostatic field is zero inside a conductor 

In the static condition, whether a conductor is neutral or charged, the electric field inside the conductor is zero everywhere. This is one of the defining properties of a conductor.  We know that a conductor contains free electrons which, in the presence of an electric field, experience a drift or a force. Inside the conductor, the electrons distribute themselves in such a way that the final electric field at all points inside the conductor is zero.  

II. Electrostatic field lines are normal to the surface at every point in a charged conductor

We can say, if the electric field lines were not normal at the surface, a component of the electric field would have been present along the surface of a conductor in the static condition.  

Thus, free charges moving on the surface would also have experienced some force leading to their motion. But, this does not happen. Since there are no tangential components, the forces have to be normal to the surface.  

III. In the static conditions, the interior of the conductor contains no excess charge

We know that any neutral conductor contains an equal amount of positive and negative charges, at every point. This holds true even in an infinitesimally small element of volume or surface area. From the Gauss’s law, we can say that in the case of a charged conductor, the excess charges are present only on the surface.

IV. Constant electrostatic potential throughout the volume of the conductor 

The electrostatic potential at any point throughout the volume of the conductor is always constant and the value of the electrostatic potential at the surface is equal to that at any point inside the volume.

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