Molecules in a gas resist crowding and get as far apart from eachother as possib

Question

Molecules in a gas resist crowding and get as far apart from eachother as possible. Free
electrons also resist crowding and get as far apart as possible.When a balloon is filled
with helium gas, the helium atoms distribute themselves more orless uniformly
throughout the tank's volume, thereby giving each atom the maximumpossible distance
from its nearest neighbors. When a solid copper ball has a netnegative charge, the
excess free electrons will distribute themselves more or lessuniformly throughout the
ball's volume for much the same reason.

If this statement is true, prove it. If false, show why it isfalse.

Explanation / Answer

The statement is false because the excess electrons willdistribute as far as it can be possible from each other. Supposethat two free electrons are in the interior of the copper ball.Then there is a greater distance they can be apparted, which is thediameter which contains the segment of line that joins the twoelectrons. This is true for any pair of points you choose insidethe copper ball. Therefore the two electrons would be located atthe surface, and they would be at opposites sides, to maximize thedistance. The same happens with a lot of electrons. In the interiorthere is a net electrostatic force that pushes them toward thesurface. Then the charge is uniformly distributed over the surfaceof the ball.

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