Van der Waals Equation of State. The Van der Waals equation of state is a relation that corrects for two deficiencies of the ideal gas law. First, it corrects for the finite volume of gas molecules by subtracting off the volume occupied by the molecules from the total volume. Second, it corrects for the intermolecular forces between gas molecules by subtracting off a term proportional to the square of the number of moles.
The Van der Waals equation of state is: P = (nRT)/(V - nb) - a(n^2/V^2), where P is the pressure, n is the number of moles, R is the ideal gas constant, T is the temperature, V is the volume, a is a constant related to the strength of the intermolecular forces, and b is a constant related to the size of the gas molecules.