Question

Consider the Van der Vaals equation of state: (????+????????????)(????−????)=???????????? where p is pressure, V is volume, n is number of moles, T is absolute temperature, R is the gas constant and a and b are constants. What are the dimensions of a and b?

Answer 1

Units of a =
`(atm\ L^2)/(mol^2)`

Units of b =
`(L)/(mol)`

Step-by-step explanation:

The Van der Waal's equation is:-

`\left(P+(an^2)/(V^2)\right)\left(V-nb\right)=nRT`

Where,

P is the pressure

V is the volume

n is the number of moles

T is the temperature

R is Gas constant having value

a and b are van der Waal's constant

If pressure is taken in atm and volume in L. So,

`P+(an^2)/(V^2)` represents the pressure correction term. Then,

Units of a =
`(atm\ L^2)/(mol^2)`

`V-nb` represents the volume correction term. Then,

Units of b =
`(L)/(mol)`