Van der Waals Isotherms
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The Van der Waals equation of state for one mole of an imperfect fluid reads . The critical constants are predicted to be , , . The Van der Waals equation can be recast in the form of a universal reduced equation of state in terms of reduced variables , , . Isotherms where is constant can be plotted on the versus diagram using the slider for values of between 0.80 and 1.20. The critical isothermis shown in red.
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Contributed by: S. M. Blinder (February 2008)
Open content licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Snapshots
Details
Snapshot 1: isotherm for
Snapshot 2: isotherm for , showing Maxwell construction
Snapshot 3: isotherm for , approaching the hyperbolic shape of an ideal-gas isotherm
The Van der Waals equation is discussed in all physical chemistry texts. See, for example:
P. W. Atkins and J. de Paula, Physical Chemistry, 8th ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
S. M. Blinder, Advanced Physical Chemistry: A Survey of Modern Theoretical Principles, New York: Macmillan, 1969.
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