Conisder a neutral conducting sphere. A poistive point charge is placed outisde the sphere. The net charge on the sphere is then

Options

A. negative and it is uniformly distributed over the surface of the sphere if the sphere is not connected to earth.
B. negative and it is concentrated at points on the sphere closest to point charge
C. zero if the sphere is not connected to earth
D. positive if the sphere is connected to earth

Answer

C

Explanation

Induction does not only create any net charge on the sphere. Option (c) is correct. When the sphere is connected to earth and positive charge is brought closer to it, electrons flow from earth to neutralise the free charge, which would be positive in this case. Hence, the net charge on the sphere would be negative if it is connected to earth in the presence of a positive charge.