Practice portal › Electric Charge and Properties › Field of Spheres, Shells and Cylinders

The graphical variation of the electric field due to a uniformly charged insulating solid sphere of radius R, with distance r from the centre O, is represented by

Asked in JEE Main 8th April 1st Shift 2023 · Shell and uniform solid sphere

• (1) E grows concave upward up to r=R and then stays constant
• (2) E grows concave upward up to a peak at r=R and then decreases
• (3) E is constant up to r=R and then falls off
• (4) E rises linearly from O to a maximum at r=R and then falls off as 1/(r²)

Step-by-step solution

Why the other options are wrong

• (1) The field outside a finite charge distribution must die away; it cannot settle to a constant.
• (2) Inside, E∝ r, a straight line, not a curve bending upward.
• (3) A constant interior field belongs to a charged sheet, not a solid sphere; here E(0)=0 because no charge is enclosed at the centre.

Reading this solution needs no sign-in. You only sign in to practise against the clock and keep your progress.