The ease of distortion of the electron cloud of a molecular entity by an electric field (such as that due to the proximity of a charged reagent). It is experimentally measured as the ratio of induced dipole moment (uind) to the field E which induces it:
= ind/EThe units of are C2 m2 V-1. In ordinary usage the term refers to the "mean polarizability", i.e., the average over three rectilinear axes of the molecule. Polarizabilities in different directions (e.g. along the bond in Cl2, called "longitudinal polarizability", and in the direction perpendicular to the bond, called "transverse polarizability") can be distinguished, at least in principle. Polarizability along the bond joining a substituent to the rest of the molecule is seen in certain modern theoretical approaches as a factor influencing chemical reactivity, etc., and parametrization thereof has been proposed. See INGOLD (1953); TAFT and TOPSOM (1987).
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