Dipole moment of an isolated atom

AI Thread Summary
An isolated atom does not have a permanent electric dipole moment because the positive charge of the nucleus is nearly concentric with the negative charge cloud of the electrons, resulting in no separation of charge. A dipole requires a pair of charges separated by distance, which is not the case in single atoms. However, many atoms can exhibit a magnetic dipole moment if they possess a spin, indicating that they can have magnetic properties. Additionally, some atoms may have a small electric dipole moment under certain conditions. Overall, while isolated atoms lack a permanent electric dipole moment, they can still exhibit magnetic dipole moments.
lamp post
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
why does an isolated atom not have a permanent dipole moment?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
An isolated atom such as?
 
A dipole consists of a pair of charges separated by some distance. Since the positive charge of the nucleus is very nearly concentric with the negative charge cloud of the electrons single atoms are not dipoles.
 
Integral said:
A dipole consists of a pair of charges separated by some distance. Since the positive charge of the nucleus is very nearly concentric with the negative charge cloud of the electrons single atoms are not dipoles.
you are talking about an electric dipole. the OP might have been about a magnetic dipole. many atoms do have magnetic dipole moment (any atom with a spin will have a dipole moment). and many atoms have a small electric dipole moment too
 
Thread 'Question about pressure of a liquid'

Thread 'Question about pressure of a liquid'

I am looking at pressure in liquids and I am testing my idea. The vertical tube is 100m, the contraption is filled with water. The vertical tube is very thin(maybe 1mm^2 cross section). The area of the base is ~100m^2. Will he top half be launched in the air if suddenly it cracked?- assuming its light enough. I want to test my idea that if I had a thin long ruber tube that I lifted up, then the pressure at "red lines" will be high and that the $force = pressure * area$ would be massive...
View full post »

Thread 'Why is the 3 body problem unsolvable? And what will happen if someone solves it?'

I feel it should be solvable we just need to find a perfect pattern, and there will be a general pattern since the forces acting are based on a single function, so..... you can't actually say it is unsolvable right? Cause imaging 3 bodies actually existed somwhere in this universe then nature isn't gonna wait till we predict it! And yea I have checked in many places that tiny changes cause large changes so it becomes chaos........ but still I just can't accept that it is impossible to solve...
View full post »

Similar threads

I Does Larmor precession change the force exerted on a magnetic dipole?
Replies
1
Views
1K
B Direction of Electric Field & Field Due to a Dipole
Replies
5
Views
3K
I What are the stable orientations for a dipole in an external e-field
Replies
1
Views
765
I Exact electrostatic potential of a pure dipole using multipole expansion
Replies
6
Views
2K
I Instantaneous dipole moment and orbitals
Replies
1
Views
83
B Electric field on the equatorial line of a dipole
Replies
4
Views
1K
I Magnetic dipole in vacuum near absolute zero
Replies
1
Views
1K
I Hamiltonian formalism and partition function
Replies
1
Views
1K
I Origin of coordinates in multipole expansion
Replies
10
Views
1K
I What is the significance of dipole moments in physics?
Replies
1
Views
798

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top