Change the value of charge using the slider and notice the charge distribution on the conductor. Also take notice of the electric fields which are perpendicular to the surface, thus representing electrostatic equilibrium.
Charged conductors that have reached electrostatic equilibrium share a variety of unusual characteristics. One characteristic of a conductor at electrostatic equilibrium is that the electric field anywhere beneath the surface of a charged conductor is zero. If an electric field did exist beneath the surface of a conductor (and inside of it), then the electric field would exert a force on all electrons that were present there. This net force would begin to accelerate and move these electrons. But objects at electrostatic equilibrium have no further motion of charge about the surface. So if this were to occur, then the original claim that the object was at electrostatic equilibrium would be a false claim. If the electrons within a conductor have assumed an equilibrium state, then the net force upon those electrons is zero. The electric field lines either begin or end upon a charge and in the case of a conductor, the charge exists solely upon its outer surface. The lines extend from this surface outward, not inward. This of course presumes that our conductor does not surround a region of space where there was another charge.
