Experiment 3, page 1 Version of February 26, 2013

Experiment 446.3

DIPOLE MOMENTS

Theory
A molecule has an electric dipole moment if it has a net separation of centers of positive
and negative charge. If the separation of charge is characteristic of the molecule without the
application of an electric field, it is said to have a permanent electric dipole moment. Molecules
with no net separation of charge outside a field may also have, through interaction with the field,
an induced electric dipole moment that exists only when the molecule is in the field.
Permanent dipole moments are fixed relative to molecular axes. A permanent electric
dipole may be modeled as two charges, -Q and +Q, of equal magnitude and opposite sign,
separated by a distance given by the vector r. If the vector r points from the negative to the
positive charge, the electric dipole is
d = Qr . (3.1)
In real molecules, charges are distributed (as shown for electrons by a plot of the square of the
electronic wave function), and the dipole moment results from the fact that the distributions of
positive and negative charge are not commensurate. The dipole moment of such a molecule is
determined by integration over the charge distributions.
In the SI system of units, the appropriate unit of dipole moment is the coulomb-m. This
is much too large a unit to be useful, so one typically finds molecular dipole moments reported in
debyes. 1 [1 D = 1×10-18 statcoulomb-cm] 2 In SI units, the debye is 3.33564 x 10-30 coulomb-m.
In what follows, I shall use the centimeter-gram-second (cgs) set of units, where the unit of
charge is the statcoulomb.
When an electric field is applied, a dipole has an energy of interaction, U, with the
electric field, E, that depends on the orientation, θ, of the dipole relative to the electric field.
U = − d • E = − d E cosθ . (3.2)
For N molecules, each of which has a permanent dipole, d, exposed to an electric field, at
equilibrium there is a tendency for the dipoles, on average, to be oriented along the field. This
situation is described by the molar electric polarization, P, the total electric dipole moment per
mole. If N0 is Avogadro’s number, the total equilibrium polarization is
P = N0 d (3.3)
where d is the average molecular dipole moment.

1
The naming of this unit honors the great Dutch scientist, Peter J. W. Debye, who did pioneering work on the
electrical properties of solutions, among his many contributions to science.
2
The statcoulomb is the unit of charge in the cgs system of units. 1 statcoulomb = 3.3356 x 10-10 coulomb.
 Experiment 3, page 2 Version of February 26, 2013
The molar electric polarization contains two contributions, one due to permanent electric
dipoles, Pp, and a second, Pi, due to induced electric dipoles caused by distortion of the electric
cloud and of the nuclear framework:
P = P p + Pi (3.4)
To determine any one of these quantities, the other two must be measured or estimated.
The molar polarization can be determined from the dielectric constant, κ, of a material
through the use of the Clausius-Mosotti equation:
κ −1  M 
P =  , (3.5)
κ + 2  ρ 
where M is the molar mass and ρ is the mass density of the dielectric material. The dielectric
constant is unitless, and so the molar polarization has units of cm3/mol.

Measurement of Dielectric Constants

In this experiment, you determine the contribution of permanent dipoles to the
polarization (and, from it, the average permanent dipole moment of a molecule) through a
measurement of the polarizations of solutions containing the molecules in a nonpolar solvent.
To do so, one must generate a known electric field [equation (3.6)] to produce a polarization, and
then determine the polarization.
The application of a voltage across a capacitor, which in its simplest form consists of two
conducting plates of area A separated by a space l, produces an electric field that is determined
by the capacitance, C, the voltage, and the dielectric constant, κ, of the material filling the
capacitor. One may show that the capacitance is
A
C = κε 0 , (3.6)
l
where ε0 is the permittivity of free space. 3 The SI
unit of capacitance is the farad, but in many
circuits, the practical unit is much smaller, so one
often sees capacitances described in microfarads or
picofarads. Equation (3.6) implies that, for a given
configuration of electrodes, the capacitance and the
dielectric constant of the material in the capacitor
are directly related. Hence, a measurement of
capacitance may be viewed as a measurement of
the dielectric constant of the material between the
plates. For two materials measured in the same
circuit, the following equation holds:
Figure 3.1. The field in a parallel-plate C1 κ1
capacitor. = . (3.7)
C2 κ2
You will use this relationship to make measurements and to calibrate the meter. The dielectric
constants of several organic materials are given in Table 3.1.

3
The permittivity of free space is 8.854187817... ×10-12 F m-1.
Experiment 3, page 3 Version of February 26, 2013

Table 3.1. Dielectric Constants of Some Pure Organic Liquids at 20°C

Substance κ Substance κ
CCl4 2.238 CHCl3 4.806
C6H14 1.890 C6H12 (Cyclohexane) 2.023
C4H10O (Diethylether) 4.335 C6H7N 6.89
Source: R. C. Weast and M. J. Astle (eds.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 63rd
Edition, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 1982.

The Contribution of Induced Dipoles

To determine the contribution of permanent dipoles, one must estimate the contribution
from induced dipoles in equation (3.4). This can be done by noting that, at the high frequencies
of visible light, the permanent dipoles make essentially no contribution to the polarization. A
measure of the dielectric constant for these conditions allows one to estimate the contribution of
induced dipoles. What is usually reported for optical systems is the refractive index, n. The
dielectric constant at these high frequencies is related to the refractive index by the simple
formula:
κ = n2 . (3.8)
Hence, use of the Clausius-Mosotti equation [Equation (3.5)] provides an estimate of this
contribution from the refractive index:
 M 2  n22 − 1 
Pi =   2  , (3.9)
 ρ 2  n2 + 2 
where the molar mass, density, and refractive index of the solute (component 2) are indicated
with subscripts.

Dielectric Properties of Dilute Solutions

Strictly speaking, the above discussion applies only to gases where the molecules are not
interacting. A solution presents a complication to the analysis of dielectric properties, since each
component contributes to the properties. If the dielectric material is a solution, then the
dielectric constant depends on concentration. In a dilute binary solution, one assumes that the
properties of the solution are sums of the properties of the components, in proportion to mole
fraction of each component. Thus, the effective molar polarization of a binary solution may be
expressed in terms of the molar polarizations of the two components:
P = X 1 P1 + X 2 P2 . (3.10)
If component 1 is the solvent, then P1 is its molar polarization and X2 is the solute mole fraction,
with the solute molar polarization of P2.
If the components of the mixtures do not interact, the molar polarizations would be
constants. However, these quantities also depend on concentration. In dilute solution, one may
assume that the molar polarization of the solvent is constant and equal to the molar polarization
of the pure solvent, P10 .
P = X 1 P10 + X 2 P2 , (3.11)
0
where the superscript indicates the property of the pure component. The molar polarization of
a nonpolar pure solvent (component 1) can be found from its dielectric constant:
Experiment 3, page 4 Version of February 26, 2013

 κ 0 − 1  3M 1 
=  10
P10  0  . (3.12)
 κ 1 + 2  ρ1 
Within this approximation, one may determine the solute molar polarization at each
concentration from the molar polarization of the solution:

P2 =
(P − X 1 P10 ) (3.13)
X2
For an ideal solution, one expects P2 to be independent of concentration, i.e. it is a quality only
of the molecular structure. 4 However, it is generally not constant for a real solution. The
limiting molar polarization at infinite dilution is a convenient parameter to determine in this case:
P20 = lim P2 . (3.14)
X 2 →0

One may determine this quantity by a method suggested by Hedestrand. 5 To do so, one
determines the concentration dependences of the dielectric constant of a solution and the density
of the material:
κ = κ 10 + a X 2 (3.15)
ρ = ρ1 + b X 2
0
(3.16)
6
from data collected on solutions of varying mole fractions. Using parameters of these
equations, one calculates the limiting molar polarization at infinite dilution from the following
equation:
3a  M1   κ 10 − 1  M 2 M 1b 
P20 =   +   − (3.17)
( 2 
)0 
κ 10 + 2  ρ1 
 κ 0 + 2  ρ 0
 1  1 ρ10 
2
( )
The polarization at this limit contains contributions from the permanent dipoles and from
induced dipoles. However, one may estimate the contribution of the induced dipoles from the
Clausius-Mosotti equation, as discussed above, if the refractive index is known. This
contribution may be subtracted to give the contribution at infinite dilution of just the permanent
dipoles:
P20, p = P20 − Pi (3.18)

The Average Dipole Moment

The molar polarization is related to the average dipole moment of the molecule, d. The
average dipole moment is found from the thermal average over orientations, using the energy of
equation (3.2) in the Boltzmann factor. Upon doing the integration, one obtains an equation to
determine the dipole moment of the molecule, when using cgs units:
9kT 0
d = P2. p , (3.19)
4πN 0
where d is the molecular dipole moment and k is Boltzmann’s constant. One expresses the value
of the molecular dipole moment in debyes by a unit conversion.

4
For nonideal solutions, P2 depends on concentration, usually increasing as the concentration decreases due to
strong solute-solvent interactions.
5
G. Hedestrand, Z. phys. Chem. 1929, 2, 428.
6
For this experiment, you determine the variation of the dielectric constant from laboratory data, but the dependence
of density on concentration is determined from literature values.
Experiment 3, page 5 Version of February 26, 2013

Operation of the Dipole Meter

In this experiment, you determine the
capacitance with a dipole meter. The circuit of
the dipole meter, shown schematically in
Figure 3.2, consists of two oscillators. The first
is a measuring oscillator and the second is a
fixed-frequency oscillator. An oscillator is a
circuit containing at least one capacitor and a
resistor or inductor, as in Figure 3.3. When
subject to a dc voltage, an oscillator responds
by producing an oscillating voltage at a
frequency determined by the values of the
capacitance, resistance, and inductance. A
measurement of the frequency of such an
oscillator is a measurement of the capacitance
if the resistance (and/or inductance) is fixed.
In this meter, the frequency of one
oscillator is determined by comparing it to
Figure 3.2. Schematic diagram of the another fixed oscillator in a mixing circuit,
dipole meter. which gives an oscillating signal on an
oscilloscope at the difference of the two
frequencies. By setting the conditions in the
measuring oscillator by varying the
capacitance, one can accurately adjust it to
have exactly the same frequency as the fixed-
frequency oscillator, resulting in a zero beat
frequency. This is an extremely accurate way
of determining capacitance, since one can
determine the frequency very precisely by the
beat method. (NOTE: There are controls on
the instrument to adjust both the brightness and
the focus of the oscilloscope display.) The
condition of exact frequency match is found
when the display on the oscilloscope seems to
Figure 3.3. Circuit of a simple oscillator. be a straight line that stands still. (NOTE:
This straight-line condition also occurs when
the system is very far from the match condition, so you must vary the capacitor until you see the
Lissajous pattern that indicates you are getting close to the resonance condition, and then set it
for the exact match.)
When the range switch of the dipole meter is in the position KORR, the measuring
oscillator is set to have a very well known capacitance, Cp, and the cell is not a part of the circuit.
The capacitance of the fixed-frequency oscillator can be adjusted with the correction knob
(KORR) to match this specific condition. This is a way of maintaining calibration. Before and
during each measurement, this check must be performed repeatedly to ensure that the
fixed-frequency oscillator is constant, as it tends to drift a bit.
Experiment 3, page 6 Version of February 26, 2013
In the measuring state, the range switch is set at D1, which is appropriate for liquids. The
capacitance of the measuring oscillator is actually two capacitors in parallel (Figure 3.3), one
being the cell into which the dielectric is put, CX, and the other being a variable capacitor, CM,
which you can change in very finely divided steps with a knob on the dipole meter. The scale on
CM goes from 0 to 4500. This is not directly in units of capacitance; it is just a scale to indicate
changes in the capacitor; to make it useful one must calibrate the instrument with known
materials.
Since CM is in parallel with the capacitance of the cell and the sum of the two must be a
constant at the matching condition, a recording of CM is an indirect measure of the capacitance,
CX, of the cell.
The instrument must be calibrated before use. This is done by a measurement of at least
two fluids of known, but different, dielectric constant. At Delaware, we use diethyl ether and
cyclohexane to give a two-point calibration curve. The scale for CM is linear. One may use the
following equation (in terms of dielectric constant):

κ = A + B ∗ (SR) (3.20)

to calibrate the meter from the known dielectric constants of two fluids to obtain A and B.

IMPORTANT: In past years, we have had a lot of trouble with the instrument
because of buildup of insoluble deposits. We found this was a result of deposition
during the evaporation step. When we were taking the air reading we needed to
evaporate all the remaining solvent in the cell. For this reason, we no longer take an air
reading.
1. When not measuring solutions, always leave the cell filled with pure cyclohexane
and do not dry it.
2. All glassware used in this experiment is to be washed with cyclohexane (C6H12) and
dried completely in the oven before use. Any adsorbed water (This is Delaware!)
will really affect readings.
3. Be sure the instrument is turned on BEFORE you turn on the thermostat, and be
sure you turn off the thermostat BEFORE you turn off the instrument. (Your
instructor will have already done this.)
4. The dipole meter’s operation will be explained by the instructor. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO OPERATE THE DIPOLE METER WITHOUT HAVING HAD
AN EXPLANATION OF ITS OPERATION FROM THE INSTRUCTOR.

Filling the Cell and Making a Reading

1. Submerge the bottom of the cell’s glass tube in 15 to 20 mL of the sample solution in a small
beaker.
2. Carefully (!) put the green thumb pipetter over the end of the upper glass tube and slowly
draw the liquid from the beaker into the cell until it is visible in the upper glass tube. Close
the stopcocks and remove the green thumb pipetter. Be sure there are no bubbles in the
sample region.
3. Allow the sample to sit for a minute or two and drain the cell.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, so the cell is rinsed twice with the solution to be measured before
beginning measurements.
Experiment 3, page 7 Version of February 26, 2013
5. Fill the cell a third time and allow the solution to equilibrate for five to ten minutes.
6. Take a reading with the dipole meter as described above, making sure the oscillator is stable.
7. Repeat this procedure several times to get sufficient numbers of data points to give some idea
of the statistical error. (Scale readings of ±10 are not uncommon over a period of weeks since
controlling the moisture in solvents is difficult.) Because the method is very sensitive,
repeated measurements on the same sample may be scattered somewhat, and repeated
measurements will help to define the average reading and the standard deviation.
8. If you feel it is appropriate, drain and refill the cell and repeat the measurement. It is
important that you are sure that the data you get are representative of the solution. If there is
any residue from a previous experiment, it will affect the readings, so you need to check at
least two different samples of a solution to be sure that the rinse procedure worked. If it did,
then the average in two measurements of different aliquots of the same solution should give
the same value of the scale reading.

Procedure
The object is to measure the dielectric constants of various solutions of substituted benzenes in
cyclohexane. The instrument must have been turned on for at least an hour before any
significant measurements are made. The internal parts must warm up and come to equilibrium
before you use it, and this takes time. The cell must be thermostatted at the temperature of
measurement. Trying to rush to make measurements gives meaningless results; you have to wait
until the cell is thermally equilibrated after you add the sample. Take time to do things right.

a. Calibration Measurements
To calibrate the instrument, use diethyl ether as one calibration point and pure
cyclohexane, the solvent for your subsequent experiments, as the other. All measurements are to
be performed at 20°C, controlled by the thermal bath, using scale D1. On this scale, one should
be able to balance the dipole meter for cyclohexane, diethyl ether, and the solutions of
chlorobenzenes in cyclohexane. You will have to look up data on the materials that are
appropriate to 20°C.
First, measure diethyl ether using the seven-step procedure above. After you have
obtained three consecutive measurements on diethyl ether that agree, the cell should be washed
free of ether by rinsing several times with the solution you will next use and dried.
Diethyl ether has a boiling point near room temperature. If you see bubbles in the liquid,
it is probable that the ether is boiling, which will give an incorrect measurement of the
capacitance. Let it sit for a while until this has settled down. Since this is a calibration
measurement, a mistake at this point will cause all of the subsequent values to be in error.
One can determine when the cell is free of ether by making a dipole measurement on
cyclohexane. After the cell has been thoroughly cleaned, measure cyclohexane. Repeat this
measurement until a constant measurement is achieved for cyclohexane. If it is not, clean the
cell again. Once you have achieved three consecutive, consistent readings, you may presume
that the cell is clean. By this procedure, you have also made repeated measurements of the
dielectric constant of cyclohexane! Use only the last data, as the earlier data is contaminated
with diethyl ether.
Experiment 3, page 8 Version of February 26, 2013
b. Measurements on Solutions
After calibration by the procedure described above, a series of solutions (described
below) is to be measured following the seven-step procedure. Because you are only measuring
binary solutions, you have sufficient time to do this accurately and to repeat any measurements
that seem to be out of line.
Prepare 50 mL each of solutions containing approximately 7 1, 2, 3 and 4 mole % solute
by pipetting, respectively, into a 50-mL volumetric flask approximately 2, 5, 7 or 10 mL of a
stock solution of the solute in cyclohexane. 8 You are provided 2-mL and 5-mL pipettes for this
purpose. After pipetting the appropriate amount of stock solution, fill the volumetric flask to the
mark with cyclohexane; mix thoroughly. These are the solutions used for measurements; be sure
they are made carefully, as the accuracy of knowing these concentrations affects your results and
your grade. You may wish to make a few more solutions to get more accurate results.
Make measurements first on the solution of lowest concentration, and then subsequently
on solutions of higher concentration. With 50 mL of each solution, you should be able to obtain
at least four readings for each solution, of which the first will probably be unacceptable because
of poor rinsing.
If your experiments run over to a second laboratory period, you must repeat the pure
cyclohexane run and adjust your results for the shift between periods; that is, you must
recalibrate.

IMPORTANT: At the end of the laboratory period, wash the cell twice with pure
cyclohexane to make sure all the solute residues have been removed.

Quantum Calculations
With present-day computers, one may do numerical estimations of the electronic wave
functions of a molecule rather easily and with quite good precision. 9 Once known, the functions
can be numerically integrated to give estimates of the values of parameters such as the dipole
moment, based on that particular electronic state. Many operations can be done easily and
straightforwardly with “canned” programs such as GAUSSIAN03 10 or SPARTAN.
The principal problem one must understand in carrying out ab initio quantum calculations
is that any procedure uses some approximation to the electronic wave function(s) of the
molecule. The quality of the approximation determines how good calculated properties are. A
commonly used method is linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO), in which one expresses
the molecular electronic wave function (or molecular orbtial [MO]) in terms of orbitals of the
constituent atoms. Since the forms of atomic orbitals are not well known except for hydrogen,
even the choice of functional forms of atomic orbitals is an approximation whose quality will
affect the results. The set of functions used is called the basis. A commonly used basis is the

7
‘Approximately’ means that you are not likely to have concentrations that are exactly these. Just be sure you know
exactly what the concentrations are and that they cover a range of a few percent. The more data points you get the
better, so if time permits, try several intermediate concentrations as well. This is a minimum number of solutions.
If you wish to get more accurate results you should make more solutions.
8
The stock solution you make should contain approximately 0.26 g of solute per mL of solution. Weigh this out
appropriately. Take time to do this properly; it determines all of the rest of the experiments. Be sure to record the
concentration of this solution, as you will need it for calculations.
9
Only a few years ago, such calculations were only done by a rather small number of experts on rather large
computers.
10
John Pople was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry principally for the development of GAUSSIAN.
Experiment 3, page 9 Version of February 26, 2013
Slater-type orbitals (STO), but other bases are sometimes used, for example Gaussian-type
orbitals. These have esoteric acronyms that denote certain features of the set of orbitals, such as
3-21G or 6-31G or 6-311+G(d,p). In principle, an infinitely large set of any of these should
allow one to approximate the electronic state exactly. However, that would take a great amount
of time, so that calculations are always done with a truncated basis; again, the quality of the
results depends on how well the truncated set approximate the real wave function.
Once chosen, the basis is used to determine the “best” electronic wave function by some
criterion, often minimization of energy. A common method is the Hartree-Fock self-consistent
field (HF-SCF) method, which emphasizes the average effects of interelectronic interactions,
rather than instantaneous interactions. This iterative method finds the parameters of the
expansion of the molecular orbital in the chosen basis that minimizes the variational energy
integral. Conveniently, computer programs like GAUSSIAN do all of the work if one describes
the desired basis and situation appropriately, returning useable information on the state in the
form of predicted parameters.
Another method is called density functional theory, which is based on an idealized
problem of a electron gas of uniform density. This may be used as the basis to solve the exact
problem, which includes correlation effects. Density functional theory is particularly attractive
because it takes less computational time to solve a problem that other models that include
correlation.
GAUSSIAN03 has a graphical interface called GaussView, which makes calculations
easy to set up, execute and analyze. To use the program, start the PC in the laboratory. On the
desktop, you should see icons for GAUSSIAN03 and GaussView. Click on its icon to start
GaussView. This will show you the main window of GaussView and open another window for
the new file. You are ready to create your molecule in the file.

Ring icon

Periodic Builder
Table icon Window

“New File
Window
Experiment 3, page 10 Version of February 26, 2013
1. Click on the ring icon in the toolbar of the main window, the Builder Window. A variety
of ring structures will appear.
2. Click on the benzene ring to put it into the Current Fragment display. Now click in the
window of the “New” file. You should see a benzene ring appear. 11
3. Now, in the GaussView window, click on the Periodic Table icon (a button with a carbon
atom; sometimes you have to click it twice). Click on the chlorine atom in the Periodic
Table. Now click on one of the hydrogen atoms of the benzene ring in the “New” file.
This should cause it to change into a chlorine atom (which is green!).
4. Click on the appropriate other hydrogen atom to create either o-dichlorobenzene or m-
dichlorobenzene. You have now created a structure on which GAUSSIAN can operate.
5. Go to the Calculate menu and select Gaussian. On the Job Type tab, set this to
Optimization. Under the Method tab, the method should be “Ground State Hartree-Fock
Default Spin” and the basis set should b 6-31G(d) basis set. Leave the charge at 0 and
spin at “Singlet.” Click the Title tab and write a title for your job in the space. Click the
Link 0 tab and be sure that it has the following three lines:
%chk=
%mem=6MW
%nproc=1
6. Click the Submit tab. The program asks you to save an input file. Use a name like
ODCB or MDCB. (The program should save this to the Desktop, but you may have to
change the folder if it wants to save it elsewhere. The program should give it the proper
extension.)
7. The calculation starts, using the Hartree-Fock approximation. GAUSSIAN will put up a
window, telling you the calculation is over. (The calculation may take several minutes so
be patient.) When asked if you want to close the Gaussian Window, click Yes.
8. You can look at the output with GaussView. The program automatically asks if you want
to view the file, so just click Yes. The output file type (*.out or *.log) should be
requested; you should see a file with the same name as you used above. Choose it and
open it.
9. You may just look at the SUMMARY results, under the Results menu, to find the dipole
moment, and its unit is the debye. You will also see the energy. The quantity called
E(RHF) is the calculated energy of the molecule, in atomic units, a. u. or hartrees. 12
10. Repeat the calculation for the other isomer.
11. After you complete the Hartree-Fock calculations, repeat the procedure with a density
functional calculation. The following parameters have to be set on the tabs: Job Type
Optimization; Method Ground State DFT Default Spin B3LYP; Basis Set 6-31G(d);
Charge 0; Spin Singlet; Title whatever you wish to name the file; Link 0 as above.
12. Submit the job as you did above. This time, the calculation may take a bit longer, but
Gaussian will send a message when your job is finished.
13. Delete all files you created before you leave the computer.

11
GAUSSIAN always gives a species with saturated valences from the Element command. If you had picked
carbon, you would have received CH4 in the window. You can add other atoms using other commands in Builder,
but that is something to explore later.
12
1 hartree = 627.51 kcal/mol.
Experiment 3, page 11 Version of February 26, 2013
Calculations
1. At 20°C the density of cyclohexane as 0.7785 gm/cm3. 13 Using this information and other
information, determine an equation for the density as a function of solute mole fraction, X2,
for each dichlorobenzene dissolved in cyclohexane. Are there any assumptions that you have
to make in doing this?
2. From your measurements, give an equation for the calibration line, equation (3.20). Be sure
to indicate uncertainty in the parameters that specify the line.
3. Calculate the dielectric constant, κ, of each solution, using your calibration line and the
measurements you made on the solutions. Each value should have its associated error
reported.
4. For each set of solutions, plot the experimental dielectric constant as a function of solute
mole fraction, X2, and determine the best-fit parameters for a straight line according to
equation (3.15). Again, be sure to include estimates of uncertainty.
5. Calculate P20 , the molar polarization at infinite dilution of the solute evaluated at low
frequency for each solute.
6. Estimate the high-frequency contribution to P20 from the high-frequency refractive index for
each dichlorobenzene.
7. With the results of questions 5 and 6, estimate the contribution from permanent dipoles, P20, p ,
for each dichlorobenzene.
8. Determine the permanent dipole moments (in units of debyes) of o-dichlorobenzene and m-
dichlorobenzene from the results, including an estimate of uncertainty.
9. Using GAUSSIAN03, calculate the dipole moments of o-dichlorobenzene and m-
dichlorobenzene and report these values with the two different methods.

Table 3.2. Solute Parameters from the Literature

o-dichlorobenzene m-dichlorobenzene
n 1.5515 1.5459
|d| 2.50 D 1.72 D
ρ
-3
1.3048 g cm 1.2884 g cm-3
From R. C. Weast and M. J. Astle (eds.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 63rd Edition,
CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 1982.

Discussion Questions
1. Explain the origin of the unit called the debye. Why is the value so small in SI units or cgs
units?
2. The dipole moment of monochlorobenzene is reported to be 1.55 D. From this value, use
vector addition of carbon-chlorine bond moments to predict the values and orientations in the
molecular frame of the dipole moments of o-dichlorobenzene and m-dichlorobenzene. Assume
only the carbon-chlorine bonds contribute to the dipole moment (that is, assume C-H and C-C
bonds have no dipole moments). Indicate where the dipole moment vectors point relative to the
molecular structures in a figure.

13
The density of cyclohexane at other temperatures is found from the equation:
ρ = [0.7785 − 9.4 ×10 −4
(t − 20)] gm / cm3 , where the temperature, t, is on the Celsius scale.
Experiment 3, page 12 Version of February 26, 2013
3. Compare the experimentally measured dipole moments with the simple bond-additivity theory
in question 2, with the results of the GAUSSIAN03 calculations, and with literature values.
4. What discrepancies do you note among the experiment and the calculations?