States of Matter 1 Question 14
14. The term that corrects for the attractive forces present in a real gas in the van der Waals’ equation is
(2009)
(a) $n b$
(b) $n^{2} a / V^{2}$
(c) $-\left(n^{2} a / V^{2}\right)$
(d) $-n b$
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Solution:
- In the van der Waals’ equation
$$ \left(p+\frac{n^{2} a}{V^{2}}\right)(V-n b)=n R T $$
The additional factor in pressure, i.e. $\frac{n^{2} a}{V^{2}}$ corrects for intermolecular force while $b$ corrects for molecular volume.
