ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1, a brief, introductory study of the properties of a gas was presented. In this chapter, the properties of liquids and gases are investigated in some detail, because the state of a system can be described in terms of its properties. Based on the observable properties of pressure, temperature, and volume, it is possible to derive other properties that can also sufce to describe the state of a system. The relationship among the pressure, volume, and temperature of a system, when expressed mathematically, is called the equation of state for the substance in question. A state is an equilibrium state if no nite rate of change of state can occur without a nite change, temporary or permanent, in the state of the environment. The ideal gas relation derived in Chapter 1 and used extensively throughout Chapter 6 is an example of such an equation of state (see Equation 6.8).
