A conducting ball hangs from the ceiling with a flexible insulating string. Init

Question

A conducting ball hangs from the ceiling with a flexible insulating string. Initially, the ball is fixed, and a positively charged small conducting sphere is placed near it as shown in the figure. What happens if the ball is released (allowed to move) while still hanging from the ceiling? What happens if the ball is released (allowed to move) while still hanging from the ceiling, but only after the positively charged small conducting sphere is allowed to make contact with the ball? If the ball were made of an insulating material (say, a plastic ball), what would you expect to happen in the similar situation as 1)?

Explanation / Answer

1) The ball move towards spherical conducting sphere. As it attracts -ve charges present in conducting ball.

2) The ball since is in contact with sphere will get polarized and starts getting attracted.

3) There will be no affect as the ball is now an insulator.

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