Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/paper-1/section-e/e15/a/solution

An electric dipole consists of opposite charges separated by a small displacement, with electric dipole moment directed from negative to positive. At distances large compared with its size,
The net charge term vanishes; the field decays faster than a monopole field. In an imposed slowly varying electric field,
for a permanent fixed dipole. A uniform field produces a torque but no net force. For a linear induced dipole , the interaction energy is instead , because building the dipole also costs energy.
A small planar current loop has magnetic dipole moment , with the normal fixed by the right-hand rule. Outside the source,
Magnetic field lines form closed loops; a current-loop dipole does not require magnetic monopoles. Dipole moments describe the leading directional field of a neutral localized source, and their torques explain alignment in external fields.

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