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    The Dipole Moment PDF

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    sara gul
    The document discusses the electric dipole moment and how to calculate the electric potential and field produced by an electric dipole located anywhere and oriented in any direction. It defines the dipole moment p as the product of the charge Q and the distance between the charges d. It then shows that translating the electric field solution for a dipole at the origin to an arbitrary location r' involves replacing r with r - r' in the equations.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Dipole Moment PDF

    Uploaded by

    sara gul
    41 views6 pages
    The document discusses the electric dipole moment and how to calculate the electric potential and field produced by an electric dipole located anywhere and oriented in any direction. It defines the dipole moment p as the product of the charge Q and the distance between the charges d. It then shows that translating the electric field solution for a dipole at the origin to an arbitrary location r' involves replacing r with r - r' in the equations.

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    The Dipole Moment.pdf

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    The document discusses the electric dipole moment and how to calculate the electric potential and field produced by an electric dipole located anywhere and oriented in any direction. It defines the dipole moment p as the product of the charge Q and the distance between the charges d. It then shows that translating the electric field solution for a dipole at the origin to an arbitrary location r' involves replacing r with r - r' in the equations.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    41 views6 pages

    The Dipole Moment PDF

    Uploaded by

    sara gul
    The document discusses the electric dipole moment and how to calculate the electric potential and field produced by an electric dipole located anywhere and oriented in any direction. It defines the dipole moment p as the product of the charge Q and the distance between the charges d. It then shows that translating the electric field solution for a dipole at the origin to an arbitrary location r' involves replacing r with r - r' in the equations.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 6

    10/26/2004 The Dipole Moment.

    doc 1/6

    The Dipole Moment


    Note that the dipole solutions:

    Qd cosθ
    V (r ) =
    4πε 0 r 2
    and

    Qd 1
    E (r ) = ⎡ 2cosθ ˆar + sinθ ˆaθ ⎤⎦
    4πε 0 r 3 ⎣

    provide the fields produced by an electric dipole that is:

    1. Centered at the origin.

    2. Aligned with the z-axis.

    Q: Well isn’t that just grand.


    I suppose these equations are
    thus completely useless if the
    dipole is not centered at the
    origin and/or is not aligned
    with the z-axis !*!@!

    A: That is indeed correct! The expressions above are only


    valid for a dipole centered at the origin and aligned with the z-
    axis.

    Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


    10/26/2004 The Dipole Moment.doc 2/6

    To determine the fields produced by a more general case (i.e.,


    arbitrary location and alignment), we first need to define a new
    quantity p, called the dipole moment:

    p =Q d

    Note the dipole moment is a vector quantity, as the d is a vector


    quantity.

    Q: But what the heck is vector d ??

    A: Vector d is a directed distance that extends from the


    location of the negative charge, to the location of the
    positive charge. This directed distance vector d thus
    describes the distance between the dipole charges (vector
    magnitude), as well as the orientation of the charges
    (vector direction).

    Therefore d = d aˆd , where:


    Q

    d = distance d between charges


    d

    and

    −Q
    ˆad = the orientation of the dipole

    Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


    10/26/2004 The Dipole Moment.doc 3/6

    Note if the dipole is aligned with the z-axis, we find that


    d = d aˆz . Thus, since aˆz ⋅ aˆr = cos θ , we can write the
    expression:
    Qd cosθ = Q d ˆaz ⋅ ˆar
    = Q d ⋅ ˆar
    = p ⋅ ˆar

    Therefore, the electric potential field created by a dipole


    centered at the origin and aligned with the z-axis can be
    rewritten in terms of its dipole moment p:

    Qd cosθ
    V (r ) =
    4πε 0 r 2
    1 p ⋅ ˆar
    =
    4πε 0 r 2

    It turns out that, not only is this representation valid for a


    dipole aligned with the z-axis (e.g., d = d ˆaz ), it is valid for
    electric dipoles located at the origin, and oriented in any
    direction!

    Q d 1 p ⋅ ˆar
    V (r ) =
    4πε 0 r 2
    origin
    −Q

    Although the expression above is valid for any and all dipole
    moments p, it is valid only for dipoles located at the origin (i.e.,
    r′ = 0 ).

    Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


    10/26/2004 The Dipole Moment.doc 4/6

    Q: Swell. But you have


    neglected one significant
    detail—what are the fields
    produced by a dipole when it
    is NOT located at the origin?

    A: Finding the solution for this problem is our next task!

    Note the electric dipole does not “know” where the origin is, or
    if it is located there. As far as the dipole is concerned, we do
    not move it from the origin, but in fact move the origin from it!
    z

    p p
    y z

    x y

    In other words, the fields produced by an electric dipole are


    independent of its location or orientation—it is the mathematics
    expressing these fields that get modified when we change our
    origin and coordinate system!

    Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


    10/26/2004 The Dipole Moment.doc 5/6

    E
    p p
    If: Then:
    E

    Thus, we simply need to translate the previous field (dipole at


    the origin) solution by the same distance and direction that we
    move the dipole from the origin.
    z
    E (r ) E (r )
    r r − r′
    p p
    y
    z r

    r′ y
    x

    Just as with charge, the location of the dipole (center) is


    denoted by position vector r′ .

    Note if the dipole is located at the origin, the position vector r


    extends from the dipole the location where we evaluate the
    electric field.

    However, if the dipole is not located at the origin, this vector


    extending from the dipole to the electric field is instead r − r′ .
    Thus, to translate the solution of the dipole at the origin to a
    new location, we replace vector r with vector r − r′ , i.e.:

    Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


    10/26/2004 The Dipole Moment.doc 6/6

    r=r becomes r − r′

    r r − r′
    aˆr = becomes aˆR =
    r r − r′

    1 p ⋅ ˆar 1p ⋅ (r-r′)
    V (r ) = becomes V (r ) =
    4πε 0 r 2 4πε 0 r-r′ 3

    Thus, a dipole of any arbitrary orientation and location


    produces the electric potential field:

    1 p ⋅ ˆaR
    V (r ) =
    4πε 0 r-r′ 2
    1 p ⋅ (r-r′)
    =
    4πε 0 r-r′ 3

    Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

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