Question

Consider an arbitrary electrostatic field configuration. A small test charge is placed at a null point (i.e., where E = 0) of the configuration. Show that the equilibrium of the test charge is necessarily unstable.

Answer 1

Let the equilibrium of the test charge be stable. If a test charge is in equilibrium and displaced from its position in any direction, then it experiences a restoring force towards a null point, where the electric field is zero. All the field lines near the null point are directed inwards towards the null point. There is a net inward flux of electric field through a closed surface around the null point. According to Gauss’s law, the flux of electric field through a surface, which is not enclosing any charge, is zero. Hence, the equilibrium of the test charge can be stable.