Question

Debye is a unit of
A. rms velocity
B. force
C. specific gravity
D. electric dipole moment

Answer 1

Hint: 1 debye can be defined as the product of the unit of the charge and the unit of length. It is a C.G.S. Now we just need to see which quantity out of the given options can be defined based on this definition.

Detailed step by step solution:
An electric dipole is defined as a pair of two equal but oppositely charged charges separated by a certain distance from each other.
Electric dipole moment is defined as the product of the magnitude of one of the charges with the distance by which they are separated from each other.
The mathematical expression for electric dipole moment is given as
$\overrightarrow p = q\overrightarrow d$
where p is defined as the dipole moment of the electric dipole, q is the electric charge on one of the charges and d signifies the distance by which the dipole charges are separated from each other.
The electric dipole moment is actually a vector quantity. The direction of this vector quantity is from the negative charge to the positive charge of the dipole.
The SI unit of electric dipole moment is coulomb-meter (Cm) while the C.G.S. The unit of electric dipole moment is debye.
Hence, the correct answer is option D, i.e., debye is the C.G.S. unit of electric dipole moment.

Note: The electric dipole moment gives the estimation of the strength of a dipole. The direction of the electric field is anti-parallel to the dipole moment of an electric dipole. When an electric dipole is placed at an angle to an external electric field, it experiences a torque. This torque is maximum when dipole is at right angles to the external electric field.