Chemistry / Unit 7 Chem 1339 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The van der Waals Equation
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The idea
The van der Waals equation corrects the ideal gas law with two added terms: one for molecular size, one for intermolecular attraction.
In practice
Each gas has its own van der Waals constants, fitted from measured behavior, one for molecular size and one for attraction.
Where people slip
These correction terms shrink toward zero as volume grows, so the equation reduces to the ideal gas law.
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