  Understanding the agglomeration of dust particles in complex plasmas requires
a knowledge of the basic properties such as the net electrostatic charge and
dipole moment of the dust. In this study, dust aggregates are formed from gold
coated mono-disperse spherical melamine-formaldehyde monomers in a
radio-frequency (rf) argon discharge plasma. The behavior of observed dust
aggregates is analyzed both by studying the particle trajectories and by
employing computer models examining 3D structures of aggregates and their
interactions and rotations as induced by torques arising from their dipole
moments. These allow the basic characteristics of the dust aggregates, such as
the electrostatic charge and dipole moment, to be determined. It is shown that
the experimental results support the predicted values from computer models for
aggregates in these environments.
