Development of the Kinetic Theory of Gases. V. The Equation of State

Journal Article · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1961 · American Journal of Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1937858· OSTI ID:4841615

Brush, Stephen G.

Early attempts to explain deviation from the ideal gas laws are discussed. After a general survey of 19th-century work on the equation of state, the work of Ritter (1846), Clausius (1870), and van der Wasls (1873) is discussed in detail. Ritter used Poisson's formula to include the virial of interatomic forces in the caloric theory of gaseous pressure; Clausius introduced similar methods in the kinetic theory. Combined with the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law, the virial theorem provided a systematic procedure for calculating the pressure from any assumed force law. Van der Waals used more intuitive methods for taking account of the effect of finite molecular size and attractive forces. The success of his equation led to a large amount of work on the equation of state, but rigorous deductions from definite molecular models did not begin until around 1900. (auth)

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Livermore
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• NSA Number: NSA-15-028162
• OSTI ID: 4841615
• Report Number(s): UCRL-6006; 0002-9505
• Journal Information: American Journal of Physics, Journal Name: American Journal of Physics Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 29; ISSN AJPIAS; ISSN 0002-9505
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BINDING ENERGY
BOLTZMANN STATISTICS
COLLISIONS
DIPOLES
DISTRIBUTION
ENERGY
EQUATIONS
GASES
MAXWELL DISTRIBUTION
MOLECULES
MOTION
PHYSICS
PRESSURE
REVIEW
THERMODYNAMICS
VAN DER WAALS FORCES
VELOCITY