Does a price ceiling imposed by the government result in a shortage or surplus?

A price ceiling imposed by the government will always
(according to economists) result in a shortage of the good or service whose price is
being capped.

The reason for this is that the price will be
capped (presumably) at a level below the market equilibrium.  At this price point, the
quantity demanded will be greater than the quantity supplied.  This will result in a
shortage.

Perhaps the classic example of this (used in many
textbooks) is the case of rent control.  When rents are capped, landlords tend to get
out of the rental business even as more tenants wish to rent at the capped prices.  This
leads to a shortage of apartments.

Please follow the link
for an excellent discussion of this complete with an interactive
graph.