
37-1
37.1 Introduction
Dielectric materials possess relatively few free charge carriers. Most of the charge carriers are bound and
cannot participate in conduction. However, these bound charges can be displaced by applying an exter-
nal
el
ectric
e
ld
. In su
ch
ca
ses,
th
e
ato
m
or mo
lecule
fo
rms
an el
ectric
di
pole
th
at
ma
intains
an el
ectric
e
ld
. Co
nsequently,
ea
ch
vo
lume
el
ement
of th
e
ma
terial
be
haves
as an el
ectric
di
pole
. e di
pole
e
ld
te
nds
to op
pose
th
e
ap
plied
e
ld
. Di
electric
ma
terials
th
at
ex
hibit
no
nzero
di
stribution
of su
ch
bo
und
ch
arge
se
parations
ar
e
sa
id
to be po
larized
. e vo
lume
de
nsity
of po
larization
P
⃗
de
scribes
th
e
vo
lume
de ...