A Phenomenological Theory of Induced Electrical Polarization

A brief theoretical derivation is presented for the effective conductivity and dielectric constant of a homogeneous medium loaded with a uniform distribution of spherical conducting particles. To account for the effect of induced polarization, the particles are taken to have a concentric membrane or film which has a blocking action to the current flow into the particle. The characteristics of this phenomenological model are very similar to the experimentally observed features of induced polarization in a block of compacted andesite particles which contains a dissemination of small metal particles and is partially saturated with a weak electrolyte.The theory is then extended to a two-layer medium where the lower region is polarizable. The results explain, at least in a qualitative way, the observed features of induced electrical polarization in rocks, soils, and clay.