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Dipole Moment for Dummies

noun

pronunciation: 'daɪ,poʊl_'moʊmənt

What does Dipole Moment really mean?

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Hey there! So, let's talk about the term "dipole moment." It's a bit of a tricky one, but I'll do my best to explain it in a way that makes sense to you. So, a "dipole moment" is a concept in physics that has to do with the distribution of electrical charge within a molecule.

Okay, so imagine a molecule as a little tug-of-war game between two atoms. One atom might be pulling the electrons towards it a little more strongly than the other atom, creating an uneven distribution of charge. This creates a bit of a separation of positive and negative charge within the molecule, kind of like when you pull a magnet apart and you can feel the push and pull between the positive and negative sides.

This separation of charge is what we call a "dipole moment." It's like the molecule has a little magnet inside it, with a positively charged end and a negatively charged end. This dipole moment helps us understand how the molecule interacts with electric fields and other molecules, which can have a big impact on how it behaves in different situations.

So, in simpler terms, when we talk about a dipole moment, we're talking about the way that charges are distributed within a molecule, creating a kind of "magnetic" effect that affects how the molecule behaves in different situations. Hope that helps you understand it a bit better!

Revised and Fact checked by Sarah Thompson on 2023-12-04 12:18:31

Dipole Moment In a sentece

Learn how to use Dipole Moment inside a sentece

  • When you pull a magnet apart, you can feel a kind of stretching force between the pieces. This force is caused by the dipole moment of the magnet, which is the measure of how much one end of the magnet is different from the other end.
  • Water molecules have a dipole moment because the oxygen atom pulls the shared electrons more towards itself, creating a slight negative charge at one end and a slight positive charge at the other end.
  • When you rub a balloon on your hair and it sticks to the wall, that's because the balloon becomes charged, creating a dipole moment, and the opposite charges of the wall and the balloon attract each other.
  • In chemistry, when two atoms with different electronegativities are bonded together, they create a dipole moment, with one end of the molecule having a slight positive charge and the other end having a slight negative charge.
  • Polar molecules, like hydrogen fluoride, have a permanent dipole moment because the shared electrons spend more time around the more electronegative atom, creating a partial positive and partial negative charge on opposite ends of the molecule.

Dipole Moment Hypernyms

Words that are more generic than the original word.

Dipole Moment Hyponyms

Words that are more specific than the original word.