dipólusmoment

A dipólusmoment is a measure of the separation of positive and negative electric charges within a system. It quantifies the polarity of a molecule or an object. In a simple dipole, like a single pair of equal and opposite charges separated by a distance, the dipólusmoment is defined as the product of the magnitude of one of the charges and the distance between them. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction. The direction of the dipólusmoment vector is conventionally taken to point from the negative charge to the positive charge.

In molecules, a dipólusmoment arises when there is an uneven distribution of electron density. This can occur due to differences in electronegativity between bonded atoms, leading to polar covalent bonds. If the individual bond dipólusmoments within a molecule do not cancel each other out due to the molecule's geometry, the molecule as a whole will possess a net dipólusmoment. Molecules with a significant dipólusmoment are called polar molecules.

The presence and magnitude of a dipólusmoment have important implications for a substance's physical properties, such as its melting point, boiling point, and solubility. Polar molecules tend to interact more strongly with other polar molecules through dipole-dipole forces, which influences these properties. The unit of dipólusmoment is the Debye (D), where 1 D is equal to 3.33564 × 10⁻³⁰ coulomb-meters.