An invitation to the meeting of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Amsterdam and calculations using the Van der Waals equation of state written by its creator, Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837-1923), dutch theoretical physicist and winner of the 1910 Nobel Prize in physics.

In 1873, J. D. van der Waals introduced the first equation of state derived by the assumption of a finite volume occupied by the constituent molecules. This equation expands on the ideal gas law (PV=nRT) to account for the volume of molecules in a defined space as well as their intermolecular interaction to approximate the behavior of real fluids above their critical temperatures and outside of equilibrium phases.