JEE Physics 2023 Question with Solution

Given: A point charge $Q$ is placed at the centre of a conducting spherical shell with inner radius $a$ and outer radius $b$. The three regions are I : $r<a$, II : $a<r<b$, and III : $r>b$.

Find: The electric field in the three regions.

From the solution, the working states that the electric field inside the material of a conductor is zero. Therefore, in region II,

Since the point charge $Q$ is at the centre of the cavity, the field in region I is non-zero due to the enclosed charge:

For points outside the shell, the net enclosed charge is $Q$, so the external field is also non-zero:

Thus the physically correct conclusion from the solution is

However, this does not match any listed option verbatim. The solution says The Correct Option is D, but the displayed statement corresponds to neither option D nor the answer key. Therefore the source has an answer-key discrepancy.

Therefore, the correct field pattern is $E_I \neq 0, E_{II}=0, E_{III} \neq 0$, and the option mapping is ambiguous because no option matches this exactly.