Answer to Question #103168 in Electricity and Magnetism for Ajay

Question

State, giving reasons, whether the following statements are True or False:
(1) In polar molecules, dipole moment exists even in the absence of an external electric field.

Answer 1

Answer: True.

Permanent dipoles. These occur when two atoms in a molecule have substantially different electronegativity: one atom attracts electrons more than another, becoming more negative, while the other atom becomes more positive. A molecule with a permanent dipole moment is called a polar molecule.

So due to the electronegativity difference between the atoms certain molecules posses permanent dipole moment even in the absence of electric field.