Case: Read the passage and answer the following question(s).

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. The free electrons form a kind of ‘gas’; they collide with each other and with the ions and move randomly in different directions. In an external electric field, they drift under the influence of the field. The positive ions are made up of the nuclei and the bound electrons remain held in their fixed positions.

Statement 1 : Electrostatic potential is not constant through the volume of the conductor.

Statement 2 : E = 0 inside the conductor.

Statement 1 is false, but 2 is correct.

Since E = 0 inside the conductor and has no tangential component on the surface, no work is done in moving a small test charge within the conductor and on its surface. That is, there is no potential difference between any two points inside or on the surface of the conductor.