dipole moment

noun

: the moment produced by a magnetic or electric dipole
especially : the product of the distance between the two poles and the magnitude of either pole

Examples of dipole moment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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This enabled them to study neutron-rich nuclei with high precision and determine two properties of chromium-61 known as spin and magnetic dipole moment, which reveal how protons and neutrons are distributed inside the nucleus. Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025 The strength of this field is the electron's magnetic dipole moment, and it has been measured to very high precision. Luke Caldwell, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2024 This charge separation is referred to as the electric dipole moment (EDM). Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 10 Apr. 2023 The presence of phonons, of course, affects those lattices’s dipole moments as well. IEEE Spectrum, 17 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1926, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dipole moment was in 1926

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Cite this Entry

“Dipole moment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dipole%20moment. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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