24. Electric Force & Field; Gauss' Law

The permanent electric dipole moment of the water molecule (H₂O) is $6.2\times {10}^{-30}$ Cm. What is the maximum possible torque on a water molecule in a $5.0\times {10}^8$ N/C electric field?

An electric field can induce an electric dipole in a neutral atom or molecule by pushing the positive and negative charges in opposite directions. The dipole moment of an induced dipole is directly proportional to the electric field. That is, $\overrightarrow{p}=\alpha \overrightarrow{E}$, where α is called the polarizability of the molecule. A bigger field stretches the molecule farther and causes a larger dipole moment. An ion with charge q is distance r from a molecule with polarizability α. Find an expression for the force _{$\overrightarrow{E}$ion on dipole}.