Now, if there's a dipole vector pointing toward the positive electrode, then the ECG tracing shows it as a positive deflection - the bigger the dipole, the bigger the deflection.
Magnetic sources are always dipoles, with a north and south pole, and magnetic field lines that leave from the north pole and return back to the south.
Pausing halfway through again, now the vector dipole goes in the opposite direction, and faces the negative electrode, which means there will be a negative deflection on the ECG tracing.
And for an electric dipole – which is one positive point charge and one negative point charge – the electric potentials from individual charges can be added together.
The ECG tracing shows a depolarization wave moving towards an electrode as a positive deflection, and one moving away as a negative deflection, each of which is proportional to the size of the dipole.
Ionic solids are basically just polarity taken to the extreme, so far that instead of having a partial positive and partial negative dipole moment, the electrons have completely transferred, creating two charged ions.
In order for a molecule to be polar, there has to be a dipole moment, a separation of the charge around the molecule into a more positive area and a more negative area.
As you should recall from our lesson on polar and non-polar molecules, a dipole is a separation of charges, like areas of partial positive and partial negative in a polar molecule such as water.
You also learned how to notate a dipole moment or charge separation of a molecule, the actual physical mechanism behind " like dissolves like" , and why water is just so dang good at fostering life on this planet.