Question

According to the ideal gas law a 9.03 sample of oxygen gas in a 0.8112 container at 499k should exert a pressure of 456atm. By what % does the pressure calculated using van der waals equation differ from the ideal pressure?

For O2 gas a=1.36 L^2atm/mol2 and b=3.18e-2

Hint: %diff= 100 X (P ideal - P van der waal) / P ideal

I know that van der waals equation is
(P + a [n/v]^2) (v-bn) = nRT but I have no idea how to use this and my textbook does not give any examples. Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

First, you omitted the units on the 9.03 WHAT in a 0.8112 WHAT container. I'm confused because you are confused. There is nothing here that you need an idea about. You have a and b, R, T, and n. Solve for P by van d equation, then use the usual PV = nRT and solve for P. Then follow the hint in the problem which tells you how to solve for the % difference.