- #1
TheDestroyer
- 402
- 1
Hello people :),
I have a question because I couldn't understand something written in Schwabl's book of Statistical mechanics.
Can you please explain why we in the Van der Waals equation of state choose a constant pressure under the critical temperature. I understood the part that we want to have some plausible compressibility, therefore the derivative of the free energy with respect to volume should be >= 0, but I don't understand:
1) Why we choose the Maxwell construction to be a line, not some curve.
2) why we have to have equal areas above and below the line.
What would happen if we don't follow those rules?
Find attached the corresponding graphs.
Thank you
I have a question because I couldn't understand something written in Schwabl's book of Statistical mechanics.
Can you please explain why we in the Van der Waals equation of state choose a constant pressure under the critical temperature. I understood the part that we want to have some plausible compressibility, therefore the derivative of the free energy with respect to volume should be >= 0, but I don't understand:
1) Why we choose the Maxwell construction to be a line, not some curve.
2) why we have to have equal areas above and below the line.
What would happen if we don't follow those rules?
Find attached the corresponding graphs.
Thank you