压缩因子(Z)，用于对理想气体状态方程进行修正，以使之适用于真实气体。其定义是：

其中，

可以看出，Z是同样条件下真实气体摩尔体积与理想气体摩尔体积的比值，它的大小反映出真实气体偏离理想气体的程度。理想气体的Z值在任何条件下恒为1。Z小于1说明真实气体的摩尔体积比同样条件下理想气体的为小，真实气体比理想气体更易压缩。Z大于1则相反。由于它反映出真实气体的压缩难易程度，所以称为压缩因子。压缩因子的量纲为一。

在非常高的压力下，所有气体的Z值都大于1，说明此时分子间排斥力起主要作用。在很低的压力下，所有气体的Z值都接近1，此时真实气体的行为类似于理想气体。两者压力之间，多数气体Z<1，意味着分子间吸引力的存在降低了气体的摩尔体积。

The compressibility factor (Z), also known as the compression factor, is the ratio of the molar volume of a gas to the molar volume of an ideal gas at the same temperature and pressure. It is a useful thermodynamic property for modifying the ideal gas law to account for the real gas behavior. In general, deviation from ideal behavior becomes more significant the closer a gas is to a phase change, the lower the temperature or the larger the pressure. Compressibility factor values are usually obtained by calculation from equations of state (EOS), such as the virial equation which take compound specific empirical constants as input. For a gas that is a mixture of two or more pure gases (air or natural gas, for example), the gas composition must be known before compressibility can be calculated.
Alternatively, the compressibility factor for specific gases can be read from generalized compressibility charts that plot as a function of pressure at constant temperature.