Electric field measurements inside a conductor

[issacnewton]

Hi

we all know that electric field inside a conductor is zero in electrostatic case. but this is
macroscopic field which is averaged over time and space coordinates. what about the instantaneous electric field inside the conductor. are there any experiments done to measure
this instantaneous E field inside the conductor. Also on the surface of the conductor, even in electrostatic case, electrons are not steady due to the thermal motion. So this may cause
very small instantaneous electric field near the surface of the conductor. have people done
any experiments to measure or quantify this ? references from technical literature will be helpful...

thanks

 

[Vailanor]

The instantaneous electric field inside a conductor cannot be measured experimentally, as the charges in the conductor redistribute to create a net field of zero. However, the surface charge density on the outer surface of the conductor is directly related to the electric field just outside the conductor. This can be measured with an electrometer or other electrical measuring device. The thermal motion of the electrons near the surface of the conductor can cause a very small instantaneous electric field, but this is too small to be measured accurately.