An electric dipole is the name given to two

point charges Q Coul of equal magnitude

and in opposite sign, separated by a
distance d m.
+Q C

-Q C

dm

An electric dipole

+Q & -Q in free space would move towards

each other, merge & anihilate each other.
There would be no charge there at all.
Why then are we intrested in studying it ?
Ans: We do have, in the physical world,
charges staying as above.

Consider an unpolarized(in its normal state)

atom of a dielectric. Assume that it is not
situated in any electric field. Such an atom is
shown below.
Nucleus with
total charge +Q

A Spherical cloud of
electrons with total
charge -Q

Any spherical volume charge Q uniformly distributed in a

sphere appears as a point charge Q at the center of the
sphere when seen from points outside the sphere.
The Q & +Q cancel each other and the atom appears
electrically neutral.

This model is highly approximate but sufficient

for our purpose.
Now, consider the same atom in a uniform
external electric field.
+Q

Eext

-Q

+Q

Eext pushes the nucleus to the right; and attracts

the electron cloud to the left to a new equillibrium
state. The atom is now polarised.

From points outside the atom, the electron cloud

which has been shifted to left appears as a point
charge Q (the green dot). The nucleus with charge
+Q is the red dot.
+Q

Eext

-Q

So, we now have an atomic dipole.

+Q

The dipole moment of an electric dipole,p is

equal to qd Coul-m, where q is the magnitude
of the charges and d is the distance between
them.
Dipole moment is usually treated as a vector, p.
P=qd, with a direction from the ve charge to
+ve charge.

+Q C

-Q C

dm

In the fig, if q & d are finite , the dipole is

called a physical dipole. Its dipole moment=qd
with a direction from q to +q.
If d
0 & q such that the dipole moment
remains constant at qd, in the limit we get a pure
dipole .

For an atomic dipole the distance between the

+ve & -ve charges is very small compared to
the distances we are interested in .
So, we can regard them as pure dipoles.
In the following we will find the potential due
to a physical dipole & extend the result to a
pure dipole.

+Q

R1

R2

-Q

Y
The dipole located at the origin and
in the z direction

The distant point P is described by the spherical

coordinates r,, and =900.

Should we find,
a) the total electric field intensity, or
b) the total potential field first.
If we choose to find E first, we shall have two
components to keep track of in spherical
coordinates.
Then the only way to find V from E is by the
use of line integral.

The line integral gives us only the potential

difference between the two points at the end of
the integral path.
The determination of V is much simpler
because it is a scalar and we do not have to
worry about directions when adding or
subtracting potentials.

Let the distances from Q and Q to P be R1 and R2.

The total potential is

The final result is then

V (r,,=/2)
Since this expression is independent of , it
does not vary with .
Qd=p, So the above exoression becomes

Using the gradient relationship in spherical

coordinates
E = - V

E = --

=
We obtain
=