Dipole moment of a ring

Submitted by: I.D. 039120068

The problem:
What is the dipole moment of a ring charged with charge density =
o
sin?
The solution:
Using the denition of the electric dipole moment we write
p =

rdq (1)
dq = dl (2)
dl = Rd (3)
dq =
o
sinRd (4)
where r is the position of the element charge dq.
Since the totla charge of the system is zero, the dipole moment is independent of the origin. Then
if we choose the origin in the center of the ring
r = (Rcos , Rsin, 0) (5)
p =

2
0
R
2

o
sind(cos , sin, 0) (6)
p
x
= R
2

2
0
sin cos d = 0.5
o
R
2

2
0
sin(2)d = 0.5
o
R
2
[cos(2)]
2
0
= 0 (7)
p
y
= R
2

2
0
sin
2
d = 0.5R
2

2
0
(1 cos(2))d = R
2

o
(8)
p
z
= 0 (9)
Finally
p = R
2

o
y (10)
1