Text: Any object or system that is oppositely charged at two points or poles, such as a magnet or a polar molecule. The properties of a dipole are determined by its dipole moment, that is, the product of one of the charges by their separation directed along an axis through the centers of charge. An electric dipole consists of two electric charges of equal magnitude but opposite polarity, separated by a short distance (d); or more generally, a localized distribution of positive and negative electricity without net charge whose mean positions of positive and negative charge do not coincide. Molecular dipoles which exist in the absence of an applied field are called permanent dipoles, while those produced by the action of a field are called induced dipoles. The term magnetic dipole originally referred to the fact that a magnet has two poles and, because of these two poles, experiences a torque in a magnetic field if its axis is not along a magnetic flux line of the field. It is now generalized to include electric circuits which, because of the current, also experience torques in magnetic fields.

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