# charge flow between a sphere (inside) a spherical shell irrespective of the charge of the shell

A small sphere of radius $r_1$ and charge $q_1$ is enclosed by a spherical shell of radius $r_2$ and charge $q_2$. If $q_1$ is non-zero and the two spheres are connected by a wire, then, charges will flow from the inner sphere to the outer one; no matter what the charge $q_2$ is. Why???

• I guess you know the fact that charges always reside on the surface of a solid pure conductor and not inside it. When you connect inner sphere to outer hollow sphere, the inner sphere becomes a part of the hollow sphere. But it's inside the hollow sphere. So, the net charges would come out on the surface of the hollow sphere. – Shubham Sep 16 '15 at 16:38
• thanks , it was so simple , may be i simply didn't put much to understand it. – shaistha Sep 17 '15 at 13:36
• when i tried to find an answer for this somewhere , i got the explanation as this, according to gauss's law , E between a sphere and a shell is determined by the charge q1 on a small sphere .Hence , potential between them is independent of charge q2.But the thing which i didn't understand in this explanation is , why E is determined by the charge q1. I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT GIVEN BY SHUBHAM BUT DON'T UNDERSTAND THE ABOVE explanation . – shaistha Sep 18 '15 at 8:58