Can There be a temporary induced charge separation between a charged metal and a neutral metal object?
If the voltage on the conductor is high enough, then it IS possible that charge would be discharged onto the other, neutral, conductor. However, in general, no charge will flow. What causes the apparent charge on the other conductor is the the electric field caused by the charged conductor. By definition, a conductor’s electrons are “free” to move around the surface. Obviously, this isn’t completely correct (unless it’s a super conductor), but for an ideal conductor (which would be a super conductor) this is the case. So, when the neutral conductor is subject to an electric field, the electrons are accelerated (since electric fields produce a force on charged particles). The electrons therefore align themselves so that there is NO electric field. You can think of this as a “steady state” solution. That is that the electrons will arrange themselves in a way so that they no longer move (i.e. they no longer experience a force). This is why you will have an apparent charge on the initially
