Question

Consider an electric dipole placed in a region of non-uniform electric field. Choose the correct statement out of the following options:

• A. The dipole will experience only a force
• B. The dipole will experience only a torque
• C. The dipole will experience both the force and torque
• D. The dipole will neither experience a force nor a torque

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Consider, a dipole AB placed in a non-uniform electric field.
Clearly, $\Rightarrow \left|F_{A}\right| \neq\left| F_{B}\right|$
Similarly, $\left|\tau_{A}\right| \neq\left|\tau_{B}\right|$
Thus, we can say that the dipole will experience a net force
$F_{\text {net }}=\left|F_{A}\right|-\left|F_{B}\right|$ and net torque
$\tau_{\text {net }}=\left|\tau_{A}\right|-\left|\tau_{B}\right|$