Final answer:
The electric field inside a charged cylinder is zero, while outside, it behaves as if the charge were focused at the center, diminishing with distance squared. Factors such as charge magnitude and distance influence the electric field's strength, and it can be calculated alongside electric potential.
Step-by-step explanation:
The electric field outside and inside a charged cylinder such as copper or aluminum varies depending on whether you are inside or outside the material. The electric field inside a charged cylinder is zero, as the excess charges repel each other until they reach equilibrium by evenly distributing themselves over the surface of the conductor. This results in the electrostatic force field being canceled inside. Conversely, the electric field outside the cylinder behaves as though the entire charge were concentrated at its geometric center; thus, it diminishes with the square of the distance from the cylinder's axis as you move away from it.
Several factors influence the strength of the electric field. These include the magnitude of the charge on the cylinder, represented by a charge per unit length (λ), and the radial distance from the axis of the cylinder. According to the concepts revisited by electrostatic force fields, the direction of the electric field is radial and emanates uniformly from the charged surface. For the positively charged cylinder, the field lines point away from the axis, whereas for a negatively charged one, they point toward the axis.
It is also important to note that the electric potential, a related concept, can be calculated both inside and outside the cylinder, and it would vary differently with distance compared to the electric field.