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Chemistry

University of Connecticut

Cubic

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Avoiding The Cubic Equation In Finding The Van Der Waals Fluid's Vapor Pressures, Carl W. David Sep 2017

Avoiding The Cubic Equation In Finding The Van Der Waals Fluid's Vapor Pressures, Carl W. David

Chemistry Education Materials

The van der Waals coexistence curve of liquid and vapor volumes as functions of the temperature (all in reduced coordinates) as well as the correspponding vapor pressures at these temperatures, is obtained using SageMath, a symbolic calculus/algebra computer programming language.The lack of correspondence of the coexistence locus’ analytical form as obtained herein and those of Lekner remains disconcerting.


Plotting The Van Der Waals Fluid In Pseudo-3d And The Maxwell Construction, Carl W. David Jul 2015

Plotting The Van Der Waals Fluid In Pseudo-3d And The Maxwell Construction, Carl W. David

Chemistry Education Materials

The van der Waals (from his thesis of 1873) equation is a cubic in the molar volume. Plotting the equation in pseudo 3 dimensions is quite simple to do, but including tie lines is quite difficult. Employing the solutions to the cubic van der Waals equation, the tie lines are readily available and can be easily incorporated into the aforementioned 3D plots.


The Van Der Waals Equation As A Cubic, Carl W. David Jan 2015

The Van Der Waals Equation As A Cubic, Carl W. David

Chemistry Education Materials

The van der Waals (from his thesis of 1873) equation is a cubic in the molar volume. Since this is the first equation of state studied in chemistry more complicated than the ideal gas equation, it is noteworthy that the solution of this cubic is rarely if ever addressed. When (lowering the temperature) the two imaginary roots coalesce with the real root of the van der Waals equation we have the critical point. At Kelvin temperatures below Tc. the equation has three real roots; we explore obtaining those roots to aid in the Maxwell construction required to obtain the vapor …