.Part of thebook series (PMOC) AbstractAn investigation of the electrical characteristics of a molecule gives important information on the distribution of charges in the molecule and provides the possibility of determining many properties of the molecule which depend on its electronic distribution. Those electrical properties of the molecule must be selected that are capable of a theoretical interpretation.

• National Center For Simulation

The classical theory of the polarization of dielectrics shows that such properties of a molecule are exhibited in the behavior of the substance in an electric field.

National Center For Simulation

.Part of thebook series (HDBPHYS, volume 4 / 17) AbstractA dielectric, in the original sense of the term, is a nonconductor of electricity. Despite the negativeness of this definition, dielectrics turn out to have interesting electrical properties. The property of greatest practical importance and theoretical significance is the ability of a dielectric, when inserted between oppositely charged conducting plates, to increase the amount of charge that the plates will hold at a given potential difference; in other words, to increase the capacity of the condenser. Our molecular interpretation of this phenomenon is, qualitatively, the following: although the positive and negative charges in a molecule of the dielectric cannot get completely way from each other, they can get farther apart under the influence of the applied electric field; and when they do so, their distant electrostatic effects no longer compensate each other. The study of this phenomenon, therefore, and in particular the study of its dependence on temperature and density, can give us information about the structure of the molecules.