Question

a dipole is placed in an electric field as shown. In which direction will it move?​

Answer 1

Answer:

the dipole will move in the direction of electric field ...

the dipole will tend to orient itself along the electric field. Furthermore, if the field is not uniform in space, the dipole will move in the direction of increasing/decreasing field strength.

Answer 2

A dipole is placed in an electric field that is moving towards the right as its potential energy will decrease.

We can see from the given figure,

$|E_{1} |>|E_{2} |$ as field lines are closer at charge +q,

So, the net force on the dipole acts towards the right side.

A system always moves to decrease its potential energy.

• An electric dipole placed in a uniform electric field experiences a torque that aligns the dipole parallel to the direction of the electric field with zero net force.
• Its dipole moment is given as a product of charge and the separation between the charges. The direction of electric dipole moment is from negative to positive charge. Hence the resultant force will always be non-zero.