Define the term electric dipole moment of a dipole and its s.I units
Answers
Answer:
Suppose there are two charges of equal magnitude ‘q’, separated by a distance, d. Let the first charge be negative and the second charge be positive. This combination can be called an electric dipole. Therefore, we can say that an electric dipole is created by the combination of equal and opposite charges by a separation of a certain distance.
Electric Dipole
Now, the electric dipole moment for this pair of equal and opposite charges is equal to the magnitude of the charges multiplied by the distance between them.
Magnitude of Electric Dipole Moment
The magnitude of electric dipole moment can be written as:
p→ = qd→
Direction of Electric Dipole Moment
The electric dipole moment is a vector quantity; it has a defined direction which is from the negative charge to the positive charge. Though, it is important to remember that this convention of direction is only followed in Physics. In Chemistry, the convention is taken to be opposite i.e. from positive to negative. The line along the direction of an electric dipole is called the axis of the dipole.