A condition in which fluids are compared at temperatures and pressures that are fractions of their corresponding critical properties. That is:
where the subscript r refers to the reduced state and subscript c refers to the critical state. In practice, the law of corresponding states is valid only near the critical point since all substances deviate from the law. Within groups of similar substances that have a similar form of intermolecular interaction, the deviations are often relatively small such that the properties of otherwise little-studied substances can be determined with confidence based on corresponding states.