Introduction :

In physics, a fluid is a substance that

continually deforms (flows) under an applied shear stress.
Fluids are a subset of the phases of matter and
include liquids, gases, plasmas, and to some
extent, plastic solids. Fluids are substances that have zero
shear modulus or, in simpler terms, a fluid is a substance
which cannot resist any shear force applied to it.

The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to

gradual deformation by shear stress or tensile stress. For
liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of
"thickness" for example, honey has a much higher
viscosity than water.

Viscosity is a property of the fluid which opposes the

relative motion between the two surfaces of the fluid in a
fluid that are moving at different velocities. When the fluid
is forced through a tube, the particles which compose the
fluid generally move more quickly near the tube's axis and
more slowly near its walls; therefore some stress (such as
a pressure difference between the two ends of the tube) is
needed to overcome the friction between particle layers to
keep the fluid moving. For a given velocity pattern, the
stress required is proportional to the fluid's viscosity.

A fluid that has no resistance to shear stress is known as

an ideal or inviscid fluid. Zero viscosity is observed only
at very low temperatures in superfluids. Otherwise, all
fluids have positive viscosity, and are technically said to
be viscous or viscid. However, a liquid is said to
be viscous if its viscosity is substantially greater than that
of water, and may be described as mobile if the viscosity
is noticeably less than water. A fluid with a relatively high
viscosity, such as pitch, may appear to be a solid.
This experiment is important as viscosity is a critical
property of hydraulic oil, as it affects the performance and
efficiency of complete systems as well as the wear rates of
individual components like pumps and valves.

A hydraulic fluids viscosity is defined primarily by the size

and structure of its molecule chainsthe larger the
molecules, the thicker the fluid. The hydrocarbon
molecules in mineral oil vary in size, while synthetic oils
have a more-consistently sized make-up. Also, as
hydraulic fluid ages or experiences shear stress, oil
molecules can break down and that lowers the viscosity.

Determining the right fluid viscosity is a balancing act. As

oil temperature rises, viscosity drops and it flows more
easilyto a point. If the oil gets too thin, volumetric
efficiency suffers and the system becomes less responsive
and can lead to overheating, high wear and shorter
component life. At the other extreme, if fluid viscosity is
too high, mechanical efficiency is low and that leads to
friction during startup, sluggish operation and, in the worst
case, cavitation and mechanical failure.

The viscosity of a hydraulic fluid is a critical element in the

transfer of hydraulic power. The ideal viscosity range for a
fluidand thus its highest efficiencyis usually between
10 and 100 mm/sec, depending on the application. If in
doubt, always consult the equipment manufacturers
recommendations.

Viscosity also plays vital role in Mechanical Engineering.

First, it is useful in bearing operation. As we know bearing
(Journal Bearing) is continuously rotating, there will be
friction between two ratating surfaces. This friction is
reduced by using lubricant of optimum viscosity. This
lubricant helps to form viscous layer which creates film
between the rotating parts and helps in heat dissipation.

Second due to viscosity boundary layer forms (for

boundary layer formation there are other factors also)
which is useful to control flow in turbomachines. In
turbomachines if we want to extract more power from fluid
then fluid should be in control.

Viscosity is important in Heat Transfer by convection also.

Convevtion is dependent on Reynold Number. Reynold
Number changes according to vicsocity.(Re=F(viscosity,
velocity, characteristic length)).

Plus, the viscosity of liquids is an important property that

must be measured precisely in some industries. For
example, the viscosity of paints, varnishes, and similar
household products is closely regulated so that the paints
and varnishes can be applied smoothly and evenly with a
brush roller. In fact, antique dealers and many
householders are glad that furniture stripping liquid has
finally been thickened. In the past, this thin, smelly liquid
was difficult to use because it tended to run down and off
the furniture before it had a chance to remove old paint
and finishes. Now, however, the viscosity has been
increased to produced an almost gel-like texture, so that
the product is easier to apply and sticks well to the surface
of the furniture.

In terms of food industries, viscosity measurements are

used in the food industry to maximize production
efficiency and cost effectiveness. It affects the rate at
which a product travels through a pipe, how long it takes
to set or dry, and the time it takes to dispense the fluid
into packaging. The production process has to be designed
with the viscosity of the product in mind, making sure that
pipes are angled to optimize flow, or that dispensers
provide the right amount of force to induce flow, but not
so much that the packaging will overfill.

Viscosity is also a characteristic of the texture of food. The

products viscosity must be measured and monitored
during production to ensure that each batch is consistent
and will go through the production process efficiently.

Lastly, for other industries such as petroleum, viscosity

measurements project the effectiveness of lubricating oil
and determines design elements of pipelines anf for
concrete, viscosity determines the self-leveling and
pumping behavior of a mix and for cosmetics, viscosity
should be considered when designing the feel and flow of
cosmetic products
 Objective :

To determine the viscosity of four liquids which is water,

oil, dishwashing liquid and glycerin by using the sphere
viscometer method.

Learning Outcomes :

1. To understand the resistance of a fluid on which a force is

acting.

2. To calculate the viscosity of water, glycerin, dishwashing

liquid and oil.

3. To compare the level of viscosity of each liquid.

Problem Statement :
The fluid that is very close to the pipe walls for instance
travels more slowly than the fluid in the very center of the
pipe. Fluid viscosity changes with temperature. Pressure
has a small impact on gas viscosity and the pressure
impact on the viscosity of a liquid is very small. When
studying multiphase liquids (a mixture of gas, liquid and
solids) there are other factors that come into play.

An example of a multi-phase liquid is crude oil flowing up

an oil well where part of the oil often turns to gas as
pressure reduces and the mixture might also include
water, pieces of rock, wax, and tar. The fraction of each
phase will impact the viscosity of the mixture.

Foams such as mixtures of liquids and gas and emulsions

can exhibit higher apparent viscosity than either individual
phase on its own.

For large organic molecules formed by combining a

number of smaller molecules such as plastics, viscosity is
generally higher for polymers with higher molecular
weights, where bigger molecules lead to higher viscosity.

A dilute polymer solution in a solvent, for instance can

show power-law behavior where it may have
high viscosity under low shear, but low viscosity under
high shear.

A change in viscosity based on the speed or force used, it

may increase or decrease. Other than
temperature, viscosity of the same fluid may vary with
sheer stress and pressure.
Theoratical Background :

In this experiment, we will drop spherical balls of clay into

three fluids and calculate the viscosities of the fluids by
measuring the velocities of the balls as they fall. Three
forces act on a spherical ball of clay falling through a fluid:
gravity, drag, and buoyancy. We will discuss drag in more
detail in the next experiment:
Gravity is simply the mass of the sphere (m) multiplied by
the gravitational constant g. It is the weight of the sphere.

Gravity = mg

Buoyancy (Fb) is essentially the weight of fluid that is

displaced by the sphere. You can think of it as the weight
of a spherical ball of the fluid. Thus, it is calculated by
taking the mass of the fluid that would fill that sphere
multiplied by the gravitational constant g. We can
calculate the mass using the volume of the sphere, which
is (4/3)r 3 where r=radius, and the density of the liquid
(fluid).

Fb = (4/3)r 3 fluid g

The drag force is given by Stokes Law. This law only

applies for spherical objects in fluids that are flowing in a
steady manner (not turbulent). Drag opposes the
downward gravitational force and is dependent on the
viscosity of the fluid (), the size of the sphere
(d=diameter), and the spheres velocity (V) as it falls
through the fluid.

Fd = 6Vd

Assuming the sphere is falling at a constant velocity in a

calm fluid, we can say that the sum of the forces pointing
upwards is equal to the sum of the forces pointing
downwards to get the following equation that will allow us
to calculate viscosities of fluids.

Fb + Fd = mg

(4/3)r 3 fluid g + 6Vd = msphere g

 Apparatus :

1. 1000 mL graduated cylinder

2. Stopwatch

3. Steel ball (d=3.0mm, 3.5mm, 4.0mm)

4. 4 type of fluid ( water, oil, dishwashing liquid, glycerin)

 Procedure :

1. The graduated cylinder was filled with oil,water,glycerin

and dishwashing liquid.

2. Diamater of steel ball was recorded.

3. The highest volume of fluid was marked as initial and the
lowest was marked as final. The height was measured
between initial to final and recorded as h.

4. Ball with d= 3.0mm was dropped into the first fluid

(water). When the bottom reached initial, start
stopwatch.

5. The stopwatch was stopped when the bottom reached

final mark and time taken was recorded.
6. The steps was repeated for three time, time taken was
recorded and average time taken as recorded.

Results :

Diameter of the ball = 0.003m

Density of ball, = 7800 kg/m

Type of Densit Distanc Time Averag Velocity, Viscosity

fluid y of e taken,t (s) e time, ,
fluid, travelle tavg v=h/tav
d, h (m) g =2/9rg
(kg/m (s)
) (m/s) ( /v)

(kg/ms)

Water 1000 0.9 0.47 0.40 0.43 2.09 0.016

0.41

Glycerin 1260 0.9 0.69 0.69 0.67 1.34 0.024

0.63

Oil 876 0.9 1.13 1.05 1.11 0.81 0.042

1.16

Dishwashi 1046 0.9 5.29 5.30 5.27 0.17 0.195

ng Liquid 5.23
Diameter of ball = 0.0035m

Density of ball, = 7800 kg/m

Type of Densit Distanc Time Averag Velocity, Viscosity

fluid y of e taken,t (s) e time, ,
fluid, travelle tavg v=h/tav
d, h (m) g =2/9rg
(kg/m (s)
) (m/s) ( /v)

(kg/ms)

Water 1000 0.9 0.33 0.35 0.35 2.57 0.020

0.37

Glycerin 1260 0.9 0.55 0.56 0.58 1.54 0.028

0.64

Oil 876 0.9 1.00 0.95 0.99 0.91 0.051

1.03

Dishwashi 1046 0.9 3.97 3.95 3.94 0.23 0.196

ng Liquid 3.90
Diameter of ball = 0.004m

Density of ball, = 7800 kg/m

Type of Density Distanc Time Averag Velocity, Viscosity

fluid of fluid, e taken,t (s) e time, ,
travelle tavg v=h/tav
(kg/m) d, h g =2/9rg
(m) (s)
(m/s) ( /v)

(kg/ms)

Water 1000 0.9 0.24 0.26 0.27 3.33 0.018

0.32

Glycerin 1260 0.9 0.47 0.45 0.45 2.00 0.029

0.43

Oil 876 0.9 0.72 0.69 0.71 1.27 0.048

0.71

Dishwashi 1046 0.9 2.84 2.90 2.85 0.32 0.184

ng Liquid 2.82
Discussion :

The terminal velocity of two spheres having different diameters

would not be identical.Assuming that both spheres are made of
the same material, the difference in diameter would cause a
change in the geometry such that the weight of the spheres
would be significantly different. The changes in size and weight
would change all three forces listed in equation above. The
weight would increase proportionately to the buoyancy force due
to the fact that the buoyancy force is directly related to the mass
of fluid which is being displaced. The change in size would also
cause a change in drag force due to the increase in surface area
of the sphere.This increase in drag force would not be enough to
counteract the relatively large increase in the net downward
force created by the weight minus the buoyancy force. Due to
this, the terminal velocity of the larger sphere would be
significantly higher than that of the smaller sphere.

The viscosity found for two different size spheres should,

theoretically, be the same due to the fact that viscosity is a
property of the fluid through which the sphere is moving and not
a property of the sphere itself. The largest error for this
experiment is human error. As the starting and stopping of the
timing device is performed by a human, it is expected that some
error will be present. Also, the distance across which the sphere
is travelling is measured by the human eye,which accounts for
more error. Also, in this experiment, the assumption is made that
both the fluid through which the sphere is travelling and the
sphere itself are perfectly homogenous materials with uniform
densities. This is not likely to be the case due to the fact that all
of the bearings and all of the dishwashing liquid were not likely to
have come from one batch of materials which would allow for
less variation in material properties. Further, the density of
the dishwashing liquid was obtained through experiment
which allows for further human error. Finally, less error could
have been achieved by limiting variables within the
experiment. By this, I mean to say that a lower degree of error
likely would have been achieved had we used the same ball
bearing for each trial. This would have limited variables in the
experiment and allowed us to average the time for each trial and
use that value of average time to calculate a terminal velocity
and then a single viscosity. The temperature of the ambient air
should be recorded because the fluid is likely to be at the same
temperature given the amount of time that the fluid has been
surrounded by air at the same temperature. The temperature of
the fluid is the significant measurement because the density of
the fluid is directly related to its temperature. If the temperature
were greater, the fluid would be less dense; conversely, if the
temperature were lower, the opposite would be true.This method
could be used in gasses, however, there would likely be a much
larger degree of error due to the speed at which the sphere
would fall and the ability of a human to react quickly enough to
measure such an occurrence. If some form of automation was
used to measure the time in which the sphere moved between
two given points in a gas, this experimentcould likely be
performed successfully in such an environment. This method
could be successfully completed in opaque fluids, however, it
would require methods other that human observation due to

a humans inability to see in order to record the time the

sphere takes to pass from the starting point to the stopping
point. A method such as thermal imaging could be used to
accomplish such an experiment. This method would not
work,however, with non homogeneous fluids such as those
mentioned.
Conclusion :

From the experiment, we can see that the different size

and weight of sphere ball affect the the time taken for the
ball the reach its final even in the same liquid. For
example the ball with diameter of 0.003m took average
time of 0.43 seconds to reach the final whereas ball with a
diamater of 0.004m took average time of 0.27 seconds to
reach the final. When larger and heavier ball is used, the
force will be greater due to higher terminal velocity.

From the data above, we can conclude that the order of

viscosity from the lowest to the highest is water, glycerin,
oil, shampoo. It is determined by observing that shampoo
has the highest viscosity and the slowest time while water
has the lowest viscosity and the fastest time. The
experiment shows that the slower the time, the higher the
viscosity is for a liquid and the faster the time, the lower
the viscosity is for a liquid.