Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the behavior of a conductor and a dielectric when placed in an external electric field?
According to the NCERT text, 'In a dielectric, this free movement of charges is not possible. It turns out that the external field induces dipole moment by stretching or re-orienting molecules of the dielectric. The collective effect of all the molecular dipole moments is net charges on the surface of the dielectric which produce a field that opposes the external field. Unlike in a conductor, however, the opposing field so induced does not exactly cancel the external field. It only reduces it.' For a conductor, 'the electric field due to induced charges opposes the external field within the conductor. This happens until, in the static situation, the two fields cancel each other and the net electrostatic field in the conductor is zero.'