At the surface of a charged conductor, electrostatic field

The correct answer is Option (2) → is normal to the surface at every point

Inside a conductor in electrostatic equilibrium the field is zero, and the free charges have stopped moving. So the surface of a conductor is an equipotential surface.

If the field at the surface had a component along the surface, it would push the free charges along the surface, and they would not be at rest. So at every point the field has no tangential component: it is normal to the surface, whatever the shape of the conductor.

NCERT (2026-27):
Electrostatics of Conductors – “… If \( \mathbf{E} \) 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, \( \mathbf{E} \) should have no tangential component. Thus electrostatic field at the surface of a charged conductor must be normal to the surface at every point.”