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Johannes Diderik van der Waals
(
Dutch pronunciation:
[joː???n?z ?did?r?k f?n d?r ??aːls]
(
listen
)
[note 1]
; 23 November 1837 ? 8 March 1923) was a Dutch
theoretical physicist
and
thermodynamicist
. He became famous for his pioneering work on the
equation of state
for gases and liquids. Van der Waals started his career as a school teacher. In 1877, he became the first
physics
professor of the
University of Amsterdam
. Van der Waals won the 1910
Nobel Prize in physics
for his work on the
equation of state
for gases and liquids.
[1]
Things named after Van der Waals
[
change
|
change source
]
His name is primarily associated with the
Van der Waals equation
of
state
that describes the behavior of gases and their condensation to the liquid
phase
. His name is also associated with
Van der Waals forces
(forces between stable
molecules
),
[2]
with
Van der Waals molecules
(small molecular clusters bound by Van der Waals forces), and with
Van der Waals radii
(sizes of molecules). As
James Clerk Maxwell
said, "there can be
no doubt
that the name of Van der Waals will soon be among the foremost in
molecular science
."
[3]
In his 1873 thesis, Van der Waals noted that real gases were not ideal: He thought this was because there are
intermolecular interactions
. He introduced the first
equation of state
derived by the assumption of a finite volume occupied by the constituent molecules.
[4]
Spearheaded by
Ernst Mach
and
Wilhelm Ostwald
, a strong philosophical current that denied the existence of
molecules
arose towards the end of the 19th century. The molecular existence was considered unproven and the molecular
hypothesis
unnecessary. At the time Van der Waals's thesis was written (1873), the
molecular structure
of
fluids
had not been accepted by most physicists, and
liquid
and
vapor
were often considered as chemically distinct. But Van der Waals's work affirmed the reality of molecules and allowed an assessment of their size and
attractive strength
. His new formula revolutionized the study of equations of state. By comparing
his equation of state
with experimental data, Van der Waals was able to obtain estimates for the actual size of molecules and the strength of
their mutual attraction
.
[5]
The effect of Van der Waals's work on
molecular physics
in the 20th century was direct and fundamental.
[6]
By
introducing parameters
characterizing molecular size and attraction in constructing his
equation of state
, Van der Waals set the tone for modern
molecular science
. That molecular aspects such as size, shape, attraction, and
multipolar interactions
should form the basis for mathematical formulations of the thermodynamic and transport properties of
fluids
is presently considered an
axiom
.
[7]
With the help of the Van der Waals's equation of state, the critical-point parameters of gases could be accurately predicted from thermodynamic measurements made at much higher temperatures.
Nitrogen
,
oxygen
,
hydrogen
, and
helium
subsequently succumbed to
liquefaction
.
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
was significantly influenced by the pioneering work of Van der Waals. In 1908, Onnes became the first to make
liquid helium
; this led directly to his 1911 discovery of
superconductivity
.
[8]
- ↑
"The Nobel Prize in Physics 1910"
. Nobel Foundation
. Retrieved
2008-10-09
.
- ↑
Parsegian, V. Adrian (2005).
Van der Waals Forces: A Handbook for Biologists, Chemists, Engineers, and Physicists
. (Cambridge University Press), p. 2. “The first clear evidence of forces between what were soon to be called molecules came from Johannes Diderik van der Waals's 1873 Ph.D. thesis formulation of the pressure p, volume V, and temperature T of dense gases.”
- ↑
Johannes Diderik van der Waals - Biographical - Nobelprize.org
- ↑
van der Waals; J. D. (1873).
Over de continuiteit van den gas- en vloeistoftoestand (On the Continuity of the Gaseous and Liquid States) (doctoral dissertation)
. Universiteit Leiden.
- ↑
Sengers, Johanna Levelt (2002), p. 16
- ↑
Kipnis, A. Ya.; Yavelov, B. E.; Rowlinson, J. S.:
Van der Waals and Molecular Science
. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996)
- ↑
Sengers, Johanna Levelt (2002), pp. 255?256
- ↑
Blundell, Stephen:
Superconductivity: A Very Short Introduction
. (Oxford University Press, 1st edition, 2009, p. 20)
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