Based on the van der Waals equation of state Which of the following molecules - hydrogen chloride, nitrogen dioxide, or sulfur dioxide - should behave most like an ideal gas.

Question

Based on the van der Waals equation of state  Which of the following molecules - hydrogen chloride, nitrogen dioxide, or sulfur dioxide - should behave most like an ideal gas.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The van der Waals equation of state takes into account the intermolecular forces present in a gas, which makes it more accurate than the ideal gas law. However, the closer a molecule is to an ideal gas, the less its intermolecular forces will affect its behavior. Hydrogen chloride (HCl) is a polar molecule with strong intermolecular forces due to its dipole-dipole interactions, making it the least ideal gas-like molecule of the options given. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are also polar with dipole-dipole interactions, but they have larger molecular sizes compared to HCl, causing more significant deviations from ideal gas behavior. Out of the given options, sulfur dioxide is expected to have the least deviation from ideal gas behavior due to its slightly larger molecular size compared to nitrogen dioxide. However, since the van der Waals equation of state requires knowledge of both pressure and volume, option B is not a valid choice.

Based on the Van Der Waals Equation of State