Principle of Corresponding States
Channel: Physical Chemistry
Date: 2020-12-26

The van der Waals equation of state takes on an even simpler form when written in terms of reduced variables.

The reduced temperature is the temperature divided by the critical temperature, and likewise for the reduced pressure and reduced molar volume.

This means that all van der Waals gases are predicted to behave in the same way, when at comparable thermodynamic states relative to their critical point. This is the principle of corresponding states.