Question

What causes dipole moment?

Answer 1

The movement of charge.

Explanation:

Dipoles are caused when the positive and negative charges in an atom move to opposite ends. This means that at one end of the atom or molecule, there is a higher concentration of positive charge, and at the other end, there is a higher concentration of negative charge.

An example of a molecule with a dipole moment is water, or `H_2O`. The positive charges are on the hydrogen atoms, anf denoted by the symbol `delta^+`, and the negative charge is on the oxygen atom, `O_2`, and denoted by the symbol `delta^(2-)`, because the oxygen atom has a charge of -2.