| quadrupole [`kwä·drǝ´pōl] ELECTROMAGNETISM A distribution of charge or magnetization which produces an electric or magnetic field equivalent to that produced by two electric or magnetic dipoles whose dipole moments have the same magnitude but point in opposite directions, and which are separated from each other by a small distance. MATHEMATICS A mass distribution that has unequal components of the moment-of-inertia tensor along the three principal directions. |