The buckingham (symbol: B) is a
CGS unit of
electric quadrupole, named in honour of the
chemical physicist A. David Buckingham who was the first to measure a molecular quadrupole moment. It is defined as . This is equivalent to 1 debye-ångström, where 1
debye
The debye ( , ; symbol: D) is a CGS unit (a non- SI metric unit) of electric dipole momentTwo equal and opposite charges separated by some distance constitute an electric dipole. This dipole possesses an electric dipole moment whose value is give ...
= is the CGS unit of
molecular dipole moment
In physics, a dipole () is an electromagnetic phenomenon which occurs in two ways:
* An electric dipole deals with the separation of the positive and negative electric charges found in any electromagnetic system. A simple example of this system ...
and 1
ångström
The angstrom (; ) is a unit of length equal to m; that is, one ten- billionth of a metre, a hundred-millionth of a centimetre, 0.1 nanometre, or 100 picometres. The unit is named after the Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ångström (1814†...
= .
One buckingham corresponds to the quadrupole moment resulting from two opposing dipole moments of equal magnitude of 1 debye that are separated by a distance of 1 ångström, a typical
bond length
In molecular geometry, bond length or bond distance is defined as the average distance between Atomic nucleus, nuclei of two chemical bond, bonded atoms in a molecule. It is a Transferability (chemistry), transferable property of a bond between at ...
. This is analogous to the debye for the dipole moment of two opposing charges of separated by 1 ångström, and the name Buckingham for the unit was suggested by
Peter Debye
Peter Joseph William Debye ( ; born Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije, ; March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966) was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.
Biography
Early life
Born in Maastricht, Neth ...
in 1963 in honour of Buckingham.
References
Non-SI metric units
Units of measurement
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