Q 1.9: A system has two charges and
C located at points A: (0, 0, –15 cm) and B: (0,0, +15 cm), respectively. What is the total charge and electric dipole moment of the system?
Given,
and
The total charge of the system =
The system is electrically neutral. (All dipole systems have net charge zero!)
Now, distance between the two charges, d = 15 + 15 = 30 cm = 0.3 m
We know that the electric dipole moment of the system, p = x d =
x d (i.e, magnitude of charge x distance between the two charges)
The direction of a dipole is towards the positive charge. Hence, in a positive-z direction.