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• van der Waals' equation
  van der Waals' equation

  noun

  an equation of state relating the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature of a gas, taking into account the finite size of the molecules and the attractive force between them.
• van der Waals equation
  van der Waals equation

  noun

  an equation of state for a non-ideal gas that takes account of intermolecular forces and the volume occupied by the molecules of the gas

van der Waals' equation

American  

[van-der wahlz-i-kway-zhuhn, wawlz, ih-kwey-shuhn, vahn der vahls] / ˈvæn dər ˌwɑlz ɪˈkweɪ ʒən, ˌwɔlz, ɪˈkweɪ ʃən, ˌvɑn dər ˈvɑls /

Or van der Waals equation

noun

Thermodynamics.

1. an equation of state relating the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature of a gas, taking into account the finite size of the molecules and the attractive force between them.

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van der Waals equation British  

/ ˈvæn də ˌwɑːlz /

noun

1. an equation of state for a non-ideal gas that takes account of intermolecular forces and the volume occupied by the molecules of the gas

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van der Waals equation Scientific  

1. An equation that relates the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature of a gas taking into account the finite size of molecules, and their intermolecular attraction, having the form RT = (P + av ^{- 2})(v − b), where R is the gas constant, T is the absolute temperature, P is the pressure, v is the volume of fluid per molecule, a is a measure of the attraction of the molecules for each other (due to van der Waals forces), and b is the volume occupied by a single molecule. The equation accurately captures phase transitions between liquid and gas phases of substances.

2. See also ideal gas law

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Etymology

Origin of van der Waals' equation

Named after J. D. van der Waals (1837–1923), Dutch scientist