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Which one of the following statements concerning the electric dipole moment is false?

A) It is a vector quantity.
B) It measures the separation of positive and negative charges.
C) Its unit is the coulomb per meter (C/m).
D) It remains constant in a uniform electric field.

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The false statement concerning the electric dipole moment is that it remains constant in a uniform electric field, because a dipole tends to align with the field. The correct option is D.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that is false concerning the electric dipole moment is D) It remains constant in a uniform electric field. The electric dipole moment is indeed a vector quantity (A) and measures the separation of positive and negative charges (B), meaning statements A and B are true.

The unit for the dipole moment is commonly expressed in debye (D), not coulomb per meter (C/m), making C incorrect in the common context of molecular physics; however in the context of fundamental charge definitions, C/m can be considered a unit for electric dipole moment.

It's important to know that the dipole moment's direction is defined from the negative to the positive charge and has magnitude qd, where q is the charge and d is the separation distance.

In a uniform electric field, a dipole tends to align with the field, meaning its orientation can change due to torque acting on it. So, the dipole moment does not remain inherently constant in orientation, because it will align with the electric field vectors due to its asymmetric charge distribution, therefore statement D is false.

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