What is minimum-energy configuration for a system of n equal point charges placed on or inside a circle of radius r? because the charge on a conductor goes to the surface, you might think the n charges would arrange themselves (uniformly) around the circumference. show (to the contrary) that for n=12 it is better to place 11 on the circumference and one at the center. how about for n=11 (is the energy lower if you put all 11 around the circumference, or if you put 10 on the circumference and one at the center)? [hint: do it numerically - you'll need atleast 4 significant digits. express all energies as multiples of q2/4πϵ0r