An electric dipole consisting of two opposite charges of magnitude 4 C separated by a distance of 5 mm is placed in a uniform electric field of 10^5 N C ⁻¹ . If the dipole experiences a torque of 10⁻³ N m , what is the angle between the dipole moment and the electric field?

Step-by-step solution

The electric dipole moment p is given by the product of the charge magnitude and the separation distance: p = q d p = (4 10⁻⁶ C ) (5 10⁻³ m ) p = 20 10⁻⁹ C m = 2 10⁻⁸ C m The torque experienced by the dipole in a uniform electric field is: = pE Substituting the given values: 10⁻³ = (2 10⁻⁸) (10^5) 10⁻³ = 2 10⁻³ = 1 2 Therefore, the angle is 30^ . Answer: 30^