johannes diederik van der waals

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Definition of johannes diederik van der waals in English English dictionary

born Nov. 23, 1837, Leiden, Neth. died March 9, 1923, Amsterdam Dutch physicist. As professor at the University of Amsterdam (1877-1907), he extended the classical ideal-gas law (see gas laws) to describe the behaviour of real gases, deriving the van der Waals equation of state in 1881. His work led to the liquefying of several common gases and made possible the study of temperatures near absolute zero. The van der Waals forces were named in his honour. He received a 1910 Nobel Prize

Hyphenation

Jo·han·nes diederik Van der Waals