vander Waals equation

van der Waals equation (vănʹ dər wôlz', wälz') n.

An equation of state 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, and a and b are constants.

  [After Johannes Diderikvan der Waals (1837-1923), Dutch physicist.]

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