/van" deuhr wahlz', wawlz'/ ; Du. /vahn' deuhrdd vahls"/ , Thermodynamics.
an equation of state relating the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature of a gas, taking into account the finite size of the molecules and the attractive force between them.
Also, van der Waals equation .
[ named after J. D. van der Waals (1837-1923), Dutch scientist ]