Dipolon

Meet Dipolon, a pair of equal and opposite charges held a short distance apart.

An electric dipole is a positive charge and a negative charge of the same size separated by a small distance. Overall it is neutral, but the charges are not in the same place, so it still makes an electric field and responds to one.

Its strength is measured by the dipole moment, p = qd, which points from the negative charge to the positive charge. Two charges the size of an electron's, 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C, separated by 10⁻¹⁰ m, have a dipole moment of 1.6 × 10⁻²⁹ C·m. A water molecule has a dipole moment of about 6.2 × 10⁻³⁰ C·m.

Put a dipole in a uniform electric field and the two charges feel opposite forces. There is no overall push, but there is a twist that turns the dipole to line up with the field.

That twisting is how microwave ovens heat food. The oven's changing field keeps rotating the water molecules, and their jostling warms the food.