Final answer:
The electric field inside a charged conducting sphere is zero, while outside, it behaves like the electric field of a point charge. The potential inside the sphere is constant, not zero, and outside it decreases with distance.
Step-by-step explanation:
A student asked about the behavior of electric fields and potential around a solid conducting sphere with net positive charge q and radius r. The correct statements concerning the sphere are the following: The electric field inside the sphere is zero and the potential inside the sphere is not zero but constant. Outside the sphere, neither the electric field nor the potential are zero.
Using Gauss's Law, we determine that the electric field (E) inside the sphere (for r < R) is zero due to the symmetric distribution of charge on the sphere's surface. However, the electric potential inside the sphere is not zero; instead, it is constant because there is no electric field to change the potential.
Outside the sphere (for r > R), the electric field behaves as if all the charge were concentrated at the center of the sphere, hence E is not zero. Similarly, the potential is not zero but decreases with distance from the sphere. The sphere's exterior potential is equivalent to that of a point charge q at the center.