A metallic solid sphere is placed in a uniform electric field. The li…

The correct answer is Option (4) → Path 4

In electrostatics a metal sphere is a conductor. The field inside it is zero, and at its surface the field is normal to the surface at every point. So a line of force ends on the near side of the sphere and meets it at right angles. A new line starts at right angles from the far side.

Option (1) Path 1 — Incorrect. From the figure, path 1 runs straight through the upper part of the sphere. But no line of force can exist inside a conductor.

Option (2) Path 2 — Incorrect. Path 2 bends inside the metal, which needs a field in the interior where the field is zero.

Option (3) Path 3 — Incorrect. Path 3 passes straight through the centre as if the sphere were not there. But the free electrons rearrange and make the field inside zero.

Option (4) Path 4 — Correct. Path 4 bends to meet the sphere normally and does not enter the metal. It leaves the far side normally, as the induced surface charges require.

NCERT (2026-27):
Electrostatics of Conductors – “Consider a conductor, neutral or charged. There may also be an external electrostatic field. In the static situation, when there is no current inside or on the surface of the conductor, the electric field is zero everywhere inside the conductor.”

Electrostatics of Conductors – “If E were not normal to the surface, it would have some non-zero component along the surface. Free charges on the surface of the conductor would then experience force and move. In the static situation, therefore, E should have no tangential component. Thus electrostatic field at the surface of a charged conductor must be normal to the surface at every point.”