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The electric field due to a dipole at a large distance r falls off as ______.

Asked in GSEB Board March 2020 · Dipole moment and dipole field

Answer: (3) 1/(r³)

Step-by-step solution

Idea: far from a dipole (r 2a) the fields of +q and -q nearly cancel; what survives depends on the separation 2a.

On the axis: E = (2kp)/(r³); on the equatorial line: E = (kp)/(r³), with p = q(2a).

In every direction the field is proportional to p/(r³).

A point charge's field goes as 1/(r²); the dipole's falls off faster because its net charge is zero.

So the dipole's field falls off as 1/(r³).

Why the other options are wrong

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