After a great many contacts with the charged ball, how is any charge on the rod arranged (when the charged ball is far away)? there is positive charge on end b and negative charge on end a. there is negative charge spread evenly on both ends. there is negative charge on end a with end b remaining neutral. there is positive charge on end a with end b remaining neutral. the conducting rod is not grounded, so a negative charge accumulates on one end, but a charge cannot remain at a single end in a conductor, so it will spread to both ends: there is negative charge spread evenly on both ends