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An equation of state that has been used to model the behaviour of a fixed amount

ID: 811887 • Letter: A

Question

An equation of state that has been used to model the behaviour of a fixed amount of a real gas is

(P+a/V2) (V-b) =ZT

In the equation Z, a and b are constants, and P represents pressure, V represents volume, and T represents temperature. The constant Z depends on the amount of gas.

Consider what the dimensions of a and be are in terms of the fundamental quantities of mass(M), length(L), and time(T).

The answers are b : L3  a: ML5T-2

Can someone please explain why? I know the answers I need explanation for them please!

Explanation / Answer

as we know when there is addition or subtraction, the dimension should be same

so we can write,

the dimension of V and b will be same, {as, there is a term (V-b) }

V----> volume and it has a dimension of L3

=> b will also have the dimension L3

from the expression

(P+a/V2) we can say that the dimension of

[a/V2] = [P]........(I)

P ----> pressure = force / area = [MLT-2 ] / [L2 ] = [ML-1 T-2 ]

from (i)

=> [a/V2 ] = [P]

=> [a] = [P*V*V] = [ML-1 T-2 ]*[L3 ]2 = [ML-1 T-2 ]*[L6 ] = [ML5 T-2 ]

therefore,

[a] = [ML5 T-2 ]

and [b] = [L3 ]