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Homework Statement
A single positive point charge Q is located off-centre at radius R and height z = 0 inside a hollow cylindrical conducting shell of infinite length and inner radius a. The outer radius of the shell is b, and the axis of the cylinder is aligned with the z axis. What is the magnitude and direction of the electric field outside the shell, as a function of position?
Homework Equations
The principle of superposition and Gauss's Law.
The Attempt at a Solution
Can someone correct my thinking here. If you place a charge inside a conductor it will induce negative surface charges on this inner surface of this cylinder so as to cancel out the effect of the orginal charge and ensure the potential inside the cylinder is zero.
However, that would mean that the charge Q would be distributed across the surface of the cylinder and the problem would reduce to a charged uniform cylinder. The Electric field given by E= Q/2*pi*R*L.
That all seems a little too easy. Am I missing something in my thinking here?