Abstract
THAT the same substance at the same temperature and pressure can exist in two very different states, as a liquid and as a gas, is a fact of the highest scientific importance, for it is only by the careful study of the difference between these two states, the conditions of the substance passing from one to the other, and the phenomena which occur at the surface which separates a liquid from its vapour, that we can expect to obtain a dynamical theory of liquids. A dynamical theory of “perfect” gases is already in existence; that is to say, we can explain many of the physical properties of bodies when in an extremely rarefied state by supposing their molecules to be in rapid motion, and that they act on one another only when they come very near one another. A molecule of a gas, according to this theory, exists in two very different states during alternate intervals of time. During its encounter with another molecule, an intense force is acting between the two molecules, and producing changes in the motion of both. During the time of describing its free path, the molecule is at such a distance from other molecules that no sensible force acts between them, and the centre of mass of the molecule is therefore moving with constant velocity and in a straight line.
O ver de contimiiteit van den gas- en vloeistofiocstand. Academisch proefschrift.
Door Johannes Diderik van der Waals. (Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff, 1873.)
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
CLERK-MAXWELL, J. O ver de continuiteit van den gas- en vloeistofiocstand Academisch proefschrift . Nature 10, 477–480 (1874). https://doi.org/10.1038/010477a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/010477a0
This article is cited by
-
Computational aspects of dispersive computational continua for elastic heterogeneous media
Computational Mechanics (2015)
-
Inflation of correlation in the pursuit of drug-likeness
Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design (2013)
-
A Unified Interpretation of Stress in Molecular Systems
Journal of Elasticity (2010)
-
Legacy of van der Waals
Nature (1973)