Advances in Thermodynamics of the van der Waals Fluid

The van der Waals mean-field theory of fluids was formulated by van der Waals in 1873 and augmented by Maxwell in 1875. It is the first theory that predicts a phase transition from interactions between particles. However, the thermodynamic properties of fluids (gases or liquids) derived from the van der Waals equation of state and free energy have not been thoroughly studied previously. This book is a comprehensive exposition of the thermodynamic properties of the van der Waals fluid, which includes a review of past work together with presentation the author's recent extensive studies. The main goal of the book is to provide a graphical overview of the many interesting and diverse thermodynamic properties of the van der Waals fluid through plots of these properties versus various independent parameters. The data for these plots are obtained from formulas derived herein, some of which have previously appeared in the literature. Many results not amenable to graphical illustration are also included.