MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole

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supported by the National Science Foundation
written by John Belcher
designer: Michael Danziger

This is an animation depicting the electric dipole field that is created when two opposite charges of equal magnitude are pulled apart. The item may be viewed as a video or in stepped motion.

This item is part of a larger collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL/Studio Physics Project to support an introductory course in electricity and magnetism. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of the MIT Open Courseware Repository:
MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism

Please note that this resource requires Quicktime.

http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostati...

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Practices - Technology = Multimedia Electricity & Magnetism - Electric Fields and Potential = Electric Field - Electrostatics = Coulomb's Law	- High School - Lower Undergraduate	- Audio/Visual = Movie/Animation

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
- Learners - Educators	- video/quicktime	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:: MIT Open Courseware (OCW): http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htm
Keywords:: Coulomb, animation, dipole, dipole field, electric dipole, field lines, pith ball
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created April 12, 2010 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: April 15, 2010 by Caroline Hall
Last Update when Cataloged:: May 24, 2008
Other Collections:: The Physics Front

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=9951">Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole. May 24, 2008.</a>

AIP Format

J. Belcher, (2004), WWW Document, (http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/PithBallsCreate/PithBallsCreate.htm).

AJP/PRST-PER

J. Belcher, MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole (2004), <http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/PithBallsCreate/PithBallsCreate.htm>.

APA Format

Belcher, J. (2008, May 24). MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole. Retrieved May 1, 2025, from http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/PithBallsCreate/PithBallsCreate.htm

Chicago Format

Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole. May 24, 2008. http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/PithBallsCreate/PithBallsCreate.htm (accessed 1 May 2025).

MLA Format

Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole. 2004. 24 May 2008. National Science Foundation. 1 May 2025 <http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/PithBallsCreate/PithBallsCreate.htm>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "John Belcher", Title = {MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {1 May 2025}, Month = {May 24, 2008}, Year = {2004} }

Refer Export Format

%A John Belcher %T MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole %D May 24, 2008 %U http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/PithBallsCreate/PithBallsCreate.htm %O video/quicktime

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Belcher, John %D May 24, 2008 %T MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole %V 2025 %N 1 May 2025 %8 May 24, 2008 %9 video/quicktime %U http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/PithBallsCreate/PithBallsCreate.htm

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The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

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MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creation of an Electric Dipole:

Covers the Same Topic As MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Electric Field of a Dipole

A 3D interactive simulation of the electric field of two equal and opposite charges, depicted in a "grass seeds" representation. The observation point may be moved in positive or negative directions along x, y, or z.

relation by Caroline Hall

Covers the Same Topic As MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Creating an Electric Field

A related animation by the same authors that shows charge separation and creation of an electric field. In this model, five negative and five positive charges of equal magnitude are shown. The positive charges are separated one-by-one at constant velocity. It clearly depicts how the electric field grows as each positive charge is moved into place.

relation by Caroline Hall

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