Real gases are non-ideal gases whose molecules occupy space and have interactions; consequently, they do not adhere to the
ideal gas law
The ideal gas law, also called the general gas equation, is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas. It is a good approximation of the behavior of many gases under many conditions, although it has several limitations. It was first stat ...
.
To understand the behaviour of real gases, the following must be taken into account:
*
compressibility effects;
*variable
specific heat capacity
In thermodynamics, the specific heat capacity (symbol ) of a substance is the amount of heat that must be added to one unit of mass of the substance in order to cause an increase of one unit in temperature. It is also referred to as massic heat ...
;
*
van der Waals force
In molecular physics and chemistry, the van der Waals force (sometimes van der Waals' force) is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules. Unlike ionic or covalent bonds, these attractions do not result from a chemical elec ...
s;
*non-equilibrium thermodynamic effects;
*issues with molecular dissociation and elementary reactions with variable composition
For most applications, such a detailed analysis is unnecessary, and the
ideal gas
An ideal gas is a theoretical gas composed of many randomly moving point particles that are not subject to interparticle interactions. The ideal gas concept is useful because it obeys the ideal gas law, a simplified equation of state, and is ...
approximation can be used with reasonable accuracy. On the other hand, real-gas models have to be used near the
condensation
Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. The word most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the change in the state of water vapor ...
point of gases, near
critical points, at very high pressures, to explain the
Joule–Thomson effect
In thermodynamics, the Joule–Thomson effect (also known as the Joule–Kelvin effect or Kelvin–Joule effect) describes the temperature change of a Real gas, ''real'' gas or liquid (as differentiated from an ideal gas) when it is expanding; ty ...
, and in other less usual cases. The deviation from ideality can be described by the
compressibility factor
In thermodynamics, the compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor or the gas deviation factor, describes the deviation of a real gas from ideal gas behaviour. It is simply defined as the ratio of the molar volume of a gas ...
Z.
Models
Van der Waals model
Real gases are often modeled by taking into account their molar weight and molar volume
or alternatively:
Where ''p'' is the pressure, ''T'' is the temperature, ''R'' the ideal gas constant, and ''V''
m the
molar volume
In chemistry and related fields, the molar volume, symbol ''V''m, or \tilde V of a substance is the ratio of the volume (''V'') occupied by a substance to the amount of substance (''n''), usually at a given temperature and pressure. It is also eq ...
. ''a'' and ''b'' are parameters that are determined empirically for each gas, but are sometimes estimated from their
critical temperature
Critical or Critically may refer to:
*Critical, or critical but stable, medical states
**Critical, or intensive care medicine
*Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences.
*Critical Software, a company specializing in ...
(''T''
c) and
critical pressure (''p''
c) using these relations:
The constants at critical point can be expressed as functions of the parameters a, b:
With the
reduced properties ,
,
the equation can be
written in the ''reduced form'':
Redlich–Kwong model

The
Redlich–Kwong equation is another two-parameter equation that is used to model real gases. It is almost always more accurate than the
van der Waals equation
The van der Waals equation is a mathematical formula that describes the behavior of real gases. It is an equation of state that relates the pressure, volume, Avogadro's law, number of molecules, and temperature in a fluid. The equation modifies ...
, and often more accurate than some equations with more than two parameters. The equation is
or alternatively:
where ''a'' and ''b'' are two empirical parameters that are not the same parameters as in the van der Waals equation. These parameters can be determined:
The constants at critical point can be expressed as functions of the parameters ''a'', ''b'':
Using
,
,
the equation of state can be written in the ''reduced form'':
with
Berthelot and modified Berthelot model
The Berthelot equation (named after D. Berthelot) is very rarely used,
but the modified version is somewhat more accurate