The first is an electric dipole which separates the positive charge from the negative charge . A simple example of this dipole is a pair of electric charges with the same magnitude but with the opposite type of charge ( positive and negative ) and are separated by a small distance from each other . For the simple electric dipole given above , the electric dipole moment points from the negative charge towards the positive charge , and has a magnitude equal to the strength of each charge times the separation between the charges .