dipole moment

dipole moment [′dī‚pōl ‚mō·mənt]

(electricity)

electric dipole moment

(electromagnetism)

magnetic dipole moment

(physical chemistry)

The vector sum of the bond moments in a molecule, a measure of the polarity of the molecule.

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Dipole moment

A mathematical quantity characteristic of a dipole unit equal to the product of one of its charges times the vector distance separating the charges. The dipole moment μ associated with a distribution of

() 

electric charges q_i is given by where r _i is the vector to the charge q_i. For systems with a net charge (for example, positive), the origin is taken at the mean position of the positive charges (and vice versa). Dipole moments have the dimensions coulomb-meters. Molecular dipole moments were previously expressed in debye units, where 1 debye = 3.336 × 10^-30 C · m. See Dipole