INTRODUCTION

The ideal gas law is given by

= (1)

Where p is the absolute pressure, V is the volume, n is the number of moles, R is the universal
gas constant and T is the absolute temperature. Although this equation is widely by engineer
and scientist, it is accurate over only a limited range of pressure and temperature.

Furthermore, Eqs (1) is more appropriate for some gases that for others. An alternative
equation of state for gasses is given by:

( + 2 ) ( ) = (2)

Known as the van der Waals equation, where v=V/n is the molal volume and a and b are
empirical constants that depend on the particular gas.

The Task

An engineering design project requires that you accurately estimate the molal volume (n)of
acetone (a= 14.09 and b = 0.00994) for a number of different temperature from 300k, 400k
and 500K and p of 2.5 atm so that appropriate containment vessels can be selected. It is also
of interest to examine how well acetone conforms to the ideal gas law by comparing the
molal volume as calculated by Eqs (1) and (2).
Computer Approach (Microsoft Excel)

For T=300K

Figure 1 : NR Method with T= 300K

For T= 400K

Figure 2 : NR Method with T= 400K

For T=500K

Figure 3 : NR Method with T= 500K

DISCUSSION

The ideal gas law assumed that the value of molecular size and intermolecular force
are approaching zero. The equation was modified into van der Waals equations that consider
the characteristic of individual gases. The constant and are introduced to represents the
intermolecular forces and molecular size. Thus, the volume of acetone that had been
calculated is more precise by using the van der Walls equation.

Newton-Raphson method was used in this analysis. The reasons are this method has
fastest way to calculate the solution with less iteration. Unlike other methods, for example,
graphical method seems like easy but it require graph paper and hand skill to draw the best
curve to get the value of roots. It also not had formula to perform this method. Then,
bisection method needs two initial guesses. NR method just needs one guess to find the
answer. So, NR method is the best method to solve the problem given.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, there are many ways to calculate the volume of acetone by using
numerical roots of equation method. After a few analysis, Newton-Raphson method is
suitable to solve the problem with less value of percentage error and less number of iteration.

REFERENCES

1. Law, S., & Lielmezs, J. (1985). Modified Van der Waals equation of state for
saturated vapourliquid equilibrium. Thermochimica Acta, 84, 71-81.
doi:10.1016/0040-6031(85)85375-2
2. Van der Waals equation. (2017, April 17). Retrieved May 21, 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_der_Waals_equation
3. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2017, from http://hyperphysics.phy-
astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Kinetic/waal.html