Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Electric potential at every point inside a uniformly charged conducting sphere is equal to that on its surface.
Statement II: Work done by an electrostatic field in moving a charge from one point to another depends on the length of the path taken to go from one point to the other.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect
Statement I: Electric potential at every point inside a uniformly charged conducting sphere is equal to that on its surface — Correct. In electrostatics the electric field inside a conductor is zero. Since \( E = -dV/dr \), the potential does not change anywhere inside, so it has the same value as on the surface.
Statement II: Work done by an electrostatic field in moving a charge from one point to another depends on the length of the path taken to go from one point to the other — Incorrect. The electrostatic force is a conservative force. The work done depends only on the end points, \( W = q(V_A - V_B) \), and not on the path between them.
NCERT (2026-27):
Introduction – “… It means that the work done by an electrostatic field in moving a charge from one point to another depends only on the initial and the final points and is independent of the path taken to go from one point to the other. This is the fundamental characteristic of a conservative force.”
Electrostatics of Conductors – “… That is, there is no potential difference between any two points inside or on the surface of the conductor.”