Johannes Diderik van der Waals
Johannes Diderik van der Waals | |
---|---|
Nobel Prize for Physics (1910) | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Theoretical physics, thermodynamics |
Institutions | University of Amsterdam |
Doctoral advisor | Pieter Rijke |
Doctoral students | Diederik Korteweg Willem Hendrik Keesom |
Johannes Diderik van der Waals (Dutch pronunciation:
His name is primarily associated with the
In his 1873 thesis, Van der Waals noted the
The effect of Van der Waals's work on
Biography
Early years and education
Johannes Diderik van der Waals was born on 23 November 1837 in
In 1862, he began to attend lectures in mathematics, physics and astronomy at the university in his city of birth, although he was not qualified to be enrolled as a regular student in part because of his lack of education in classical languages.[10] However, Leiden University had a provision that enabled outside students to take up to four courses a year. In 1863 the Dutch government started a new kind of secondary school (HBS, a school aiming at the children of the higher middle classes). Van der Waals—at that time head of an elementary school—wanted to become a HBS teacher in mathematics and physics and spent two years studying in his spare time for the required examinations.
In 1865, he was appointed as a physics teacher at the HBS in Deventer and in 1866, he received such a position in The Hague, which was close enough to Leiden to allow Van der Waals to resume his courses at the university there. In September 1865, just before moving to Deventer, Van der Waals married the eighteen-year-old Anna Magdalena Smit.
Professorship
Van der Waals still lacked the knowledge of the
At Leiden University, on June 14, 1873, he defended his doctoral thesis Over de Continuïteit van den Gas- en Vloeistoftoestand (on the continuity of the gaseous and liquid state) under Pieter Rijke. In the thesis, he introduced the concepts of molecular volume and molecular attraction.[11]
In September 1877, Van der Waals was appointed the first professor of physics at the newly founded Municipal University of Amsterdam. Two of his notable colleagues were the physical chemist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff and the biologist Hugo de Vries. Until his retirement at the age of 70, Van der Waals remained at the Amsterdam University. He was succeeded by his son Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Jr., who also was a theoretical physicist. In 1910, at the age of 72, Van der Waals was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. He died at the age of 85 on March 8, 1923.
Scientific work
Thermodynamics |
---|
The main interest of Van der Waals was in the field of
In this thesis he derived the equation of state bearing his name. This work gave a model in which the liquid and the gas phase of a substance merge into each other in a continuous manner. It shows that the two phases are of the same nature. In deriving his equation of state Van der Waals assumed not only the existence of molecules (the existence of atoms was disputed at the time[17]), but also that they are of finite size and attract each other. Since he was one of the first to postulate an intermolecular force, however rudimentary, such a force is now sometimes called a Van der Waals force.
A second major discovery was the 1880 the Law of Corresponding States, which showed that the Van der Waals equation of state can be expressed as a simple function of the critical pressure, critical volume, and critical temperature. This general form is applicable to all substances (see
In 1890, Van der Waals published a treatise on the Theory of Binary Solutions in the Archives Néerlandaises. By relating his equation of state with the
Mention should also be made of Van der Waals's theory of
Personal life
He married his wife Anna Magdalena Smit in 1865, and the couple had three daughters (Anne Madeleine,
Honours
Van der Waals received numerous honors and distinctions, besides winning the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of the
Minor planet
Related quotes
There can be no doubt that the name of Van der Waals will soon be among the foremost in molecular science,
— James Clerk Maxwell's remarks in Nature magazine (1873).[4]
It will be perfectly clear that in all my studies I was quite convinced of the real existence of molecules, that I never regarded them as a figment of my imagination, nor even as mere centres of force effects. I considered them to be the actual bodies, thus what we term "body" in daily speech ought better to be called "pseudo body". It is an aggregate of bodies and empty space. We do not know the nature of a molecule consisting of a single chemical atom. It would be premature to seek to answer this question but to admit this ignorance in no way impairs the belief in its real existence. When I began my studies I had the feeling that I was almost alone in holding that view. And when, as occurred already in my 1873 treatise, I determined their number in one gram-mol, their size and the nature of their action, I was strengthened in my opinion, yet still there often arose within me the question whether in the final analysis a molecule is a figment of the imagination and the entire molecular theory too. And now I do not think it any exaggeration to state that the real existence of molecules is universally assumed by physicists. Many of those who opposed it most have ultimately been won over, and my theory may have been a contributory factor. And precisely this, I feel, is a step forward. Anyone acquainted with the writings of
Willard Gibbswill admit that physicists carrying great authority believe that the complex phenomena of the heat theory can only be interpreted in this way. It is a great pleasure for me that an increasing number of younger physicists find the inspiration for their work in studies and contemplations of the molecular theory ...— Johannes D. van der Waals's notes in Nobel Lecture, The equation of state for gases and liquids (12 December 1910).
See also
- Van der Waals equation
- Van der Waals strain
- Van der Waals radius
- Van der Waals force
- Redlich–Kwong equation of state
- Peng–Robinson equation of state
Notes
- ^ Every word in isolation: Dutch pronunciation: [joːˈɦɑnəs ˈdidərɪk vɑn dər ˈʋaːls]
References
Citations
- ^ Mel Voet (May 16, 2019). "Plots ging het licht schijnen" (in Dutch). Mare. Archived from the original on May 26, 2019.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1910". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- ^ Parsegian, V. Adrian (2005). Van der Waals Forces: A Handbook for Biologists, Chemists, Engineers, and Physicists. (Cambridge University Press), p. 2. “The first clear evidence of forces between what were soon to be called molecules came from Johannes Diderik van der Waals's 1873 Ph.D. thesis formulation of the pressure p, volume V, and temperature T of dense gases.”
- ^ a b Johannes Diderik van der Waals - Biographical - Nobelprize.org
- ^ van der Waals; J. D. (1873). Over de continuiteit van den gas- en vloeistoftoestand (On the Continuity of the Gaseous and Liquid States) (doctoral dissertation). Universiteit Leiden.
- ^ Sengers, Johanna Levelt (2002), p. 16
- ^ Kipnis, A. Ya.; Yavelov, B. E.; Rowlinson, J. S.: Van der Waals and Molecular Science. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996)
- ^ Sengers, Johanna Levelt (2002), pp. 255–256
- ^ Blundell, Stephen: Superconductivity: A Very Short Introduction. (Oxford University Press, 1st edition, 2009, p. 20)
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1910". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
- ^ see the article on the Van der Waals equation for the technical background
- ^ J.D. van der Waals, 1910, "The equation of state for gases and liquids," Nobel Lectures in Physics, pp. 254–265 (December 12, 1910), see [1], accessed 25 June 2015.
- .
- .
- ^ Van der Waals, JD (1873) Over de Continuiteit van den Gas- en Vloeistoftoestand (on the continuity of the gas and liquid state). PhD thesis, Leiden, The Netherlands.
- S2CID 4046639.
- PMID 21077069.
- ^ Van der Waals, J.D. (1893). "Thermodynamische theorie der capillariteit in de onderstelling van continue dichtheidsverandering". Verhand. Kon. Akad. V Wetensch. Amst. Sect. 1 (Dutch; English Translation in J. Stat. Phys., 1979, 20:197).
- ^ Laplace, P.S. (1806). Sur l'action capillaire (Suppl. au livre X, Traité de Mécanique Céleste). Crapelet; Courcier; Bachelier, Paris.
- ^ "Johannes D. van der Waals". American Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020.
- ^ "J. D. Van der Waals". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020.
- ^ "Johannes Diderik van der Waals Senior (1837 - 1923)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019.
- ^ Honorary members - website of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society
- ^ "(32893) van der Waals = 1994 EM6 = 2001 UB93". Minor planet center.
Sources
- This article incorporates material from the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License but not under the GFDL.
Further reading
- Kipnis, A. Ya.; Yavelov, B. E.; Rowlinson, J. S. (trans.): Van der Waals and Molecular Science. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) ISBN 0-19-855210-6
- Sengers, Johanna Levelt: How Fluids Unmix: Discoveries by the School of Van der Waals and Kamerlingh Onnes. (Amsterdam : Koninklijke Nerlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 2002)
- Shachtman, Tom: Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999)
- Van Delft, Dirk: Freezing Physics: Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and the Quest for Cold. (Amsterdam: Koninklijke Nerlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 2008)
- Van der Waals, J. D.: Edited and Intro. J. S. Rowlinson: On the Continuity of the Liquid and Gaseous States. (New York: Dover Publications, 2004, 320pp)
External links
- Scientists of the Dutch School Van der Waals, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Albert van Helden Johannes Diderik van der Waals 1837 – 1923 In: K. van Berkel, A. van Helden and L. Palm ed., A History of Science in the Netherlands. Survey, Themes and Reference (Leiden: Brill, 1999) 596 – 598.
- Johannes Diderik van der Waals on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1910 The Equation of State for Gases and Liquids
- Museum Boerhaave "Negen Nederlandse Nobelprijswinnaars" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2011. (2.32 MiB)
- H.A.M. Snelders, Waals Sr., Johannes Diderik van der (1837–1923), in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.
- Biography of Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837–1923) at the National Library of the Netherlands.