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My understanding is that at high pressure the molecules of a gas are closer together and thus intermolecular ATTRACTIONS play a bigger role, making the volume SMALLER than predicted by the ideal gas law.
However, I was doing a passage the other day and there were like 5 gases given that all had "a" values >0. Looking at:
[P + (a)(n/V^2)]*(V-nb) = nRT. It looks to me that this positive "a" value adjusts the pressure UP, suggesting intermolecular REPULSION forces. So do most gases have positive or negative "a" values and is my reading into the relation between the sign of the "a" value and intermolecular forces correct?
P.S. MCAT tomorrow
However, I was doing a passage the other day and there were like 5 gases given that all had "a" values >0. Looking at:
[P + (a)(n/V^2)]*(V-nb) = nRT. It looks to me that this positive "a" value adjusts the pressure UP, suggesting intermolecular REPULSION forces. So do most gases have positive or negative "a" values and is my reading into the relation between the sign of the "a" value and intermolecular forces correct?
P.S. MCAT tomorrow
