5.23 Explain the physical significance of van der Waals parameters.
The equation of van der Waals after taking into account the corrections for pressure and volume,
Where a and b are called van der Waals constants or parameters.
Here the significance of a and b is important:
Value of 'a' is a measure of the magnitude of intermolecular attractive forces within the gas and is independent of temperature and pressure.
And the value of 'b' is the volume occupied by the molecule and 'nb' is the total volume occupied by the molecules.