Self-alignment of dipole moments and alignment in external field

Interactive model, with minimal support

Overview and Learning Objectives

You can assign a dipole moment to an elliptical particle. With the model, you can observe: In some circumstances, particles with a dipole moment may self-align in a common direction, which may change with respect to time. In other circumstances, particles may form a few domains within which their dipole moments point to a common direction. Particles with a dipole moment will yield to an applied electric field, which results in an alignment of their axes to the direction of the applied field.

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Central Concepts

Key Concept:

Additional Related Concepts

Physics/Chemistry

• Dipole

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Activity Credits

Created by CC Project: Molecular Workbench using Molecular Workbench

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Requirements

• Java 1.5+ - Java 1.5+ is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X 10.4 and greater. If you are using Mac OS X 10.3, you can download MW Version 1.3 and explore within it instead.

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