Physics II / Dielectrics and Polarisation
Practice question · Numerical answer

A dielectric has electric susceptibility χe=2.7\chi_e = 2.7. Compute its relative permittivity.

Hints
  1. Relative permittivity is one plus the susceptibility.
  2. Compute 1 + 2.7.
Show the answer

3.7 (answers within ±0.05 count)

Why

εr=1+χe=1+2.7=3.7\varepsilon_r = 1 + \chi_e = 1 + 2.7 = 3.7, the value for paper. The 1 is the vacuum contribution, which is why εr\varepsilon_r can never fall below 1 for an ordinary dielectric.

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