Did van der Waals ignore molecular volume?
On the contrary, accounting for the finite volume of molecules was a crucial part of my contribution. Early theories, such as the ideal gas law, treated gas particles as point masses with no volume. My equation explicitly introduced a term, 'b', to represent this excluded volume per mole of substance. This correction is essential for understanding how molecules physically occupy space, especially at higher pressures or in the liquid state where proximity is significant.
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