|
Molecular size
Intermolecular forces
|
Since these are clearly not
true, we can speculate on the conditions under which gases will
behave most ideally as well as the types of gas particles which
will tend to deviate most from ideal behavior.
At higher pressures gas
molecules are crowded closer together. Thus the volume occupied
by the actual molecules is a larger fraction of the volume
occupied by the gas as a whole.  
At higher pressures,
intermolecular attractions also become more significant since the
molecules are at close range.  For this reason most gases condense
to liquids under sufficient pressure. The ideal gas law does
not predict this.
A similar effect of the real intermolecular
forces is seen at lower temperatures when gas
molecules move more slowly. The decrease in kinetic energy allows
for more interactions and, again, gases will generally condense if
cooled sufficiently.
|