The debye (symbol: D) is a CGS unit (a non-SI metric unit) of electric dipole momentElectric dipole moment is defined as charge times displacement: » p = qr named in honor of the physicist Peter J. W. Debye. It is defined as 1 statcoulomb-centimeter.The statcoulomb is also known as the franklin or electrostatic unit of charge. Typical dipole moments for simple diatomic molecules are in the range of 0 to 11 D. Symmetric homoatomic species, for example chlorine, Cl2, have zero dipole moment and… (More on Debye)