Factor a in Van der Waals equation of state off by a factor of 0.1?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on discrepancies in the calculation of the Van der Waals coefficients a and b for nitrogen and carbon dioxide using critical temperature and pressure values. While the coefficient b is correctly calculated, coefficient a is consistently off by a factor of 0.1, leading to confusion. The user confirms that their calculations align with established references, including Zemansky and Dittman, and that the values from Wikipedia are accurate. The issue arises specifically with the conversion of units, as the correct value for a should be 0.36 Pa m^6 mol^{-2} instead of 3.6. The user seeks clarification on the source of this discrepancy in their calculations.
dingo_d
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Hello

So I have a lab exam in Joule-Thomson effect and I have given values for a and b for VdW equation of state for nitrogen and carbon dioxide. When I take the critical temp. and pressure and put it in the equations:

a=\frac{27(T_c R)^2}{64 p_c} and
b=\frac{T_c}{8p_c}

b gives correct value, but a is off by a factor of 0.1.

E.g. For CO_2, given in the table (the experiments and the Phywe can't be wrong) a=3.60 Pa\ m^6\ mol^{-2}, and if I put the values from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_properties" on wikipedia, I get: a=3.60\times 10^{-1}\ Pa\ m^6\ mol^{-2}. Not only for carbon dioxide, but for nitrogen too...

What is even weirder is that b is correct for the same temps and pressure!

So can someone find where this comes from? I calculated from Zemansky and Dittman the coefficients a and b and they are fine (the same as in wikipedia).

I converted all the necessary values (atm in Pa, used temp in K)...
 
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The 0.36 is correct and the 3.6 is incorrect.
 
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