ChE 135 Process Engineering Laboratory Formal Report CLM

Determination of viscosity of sugar solution using falling ball

method
Christian Paul A. Camora1, Jerome Christian M. Lumacad1, Rainier E. Mendoza1
1 University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City

Abstract. In this experiment, the viscosity of sugar solutions where determined via the falling ball method. Solutions
of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% sugar were prepared and then the viscosity of each solution was
determined and was further compared. It can be concluded that viscosity increases in a nonlinear manner as
concentration increases.
Keywords: viscosity, falling ball method, sugar solution

1 Introduction
Viscosity is the fluid property that gives rise to the
forces resisting the relative motion of the adjacent
layers of the fluid. (Geankoplis, 1993) Because of this,
it is an important parameter in the design of piping
systems.
( ) 2
= (1)
18
In the experiment, the effect of concentration of sugar
on its viscosity is investigated. The relationship
between concentration and viscosity will be
established.

There are various instruments that can be used in

measuring the viscosity of a fluid (e.g. rheometer,
rotational viscometer, cone-and-plate viscometers)
(Secco, deBruyn, & Kostic, 2014) but the method used
in the experiment is the falling ball method. This is one
of the earliest and simplest methods to determine the
viscosity of a fluid which only involves free fall of a
sphere through the fluid. (Secco, deBruyn, & Kostic,
2014)
Analysis of the data acquired in the experiment requires
the application of Stokes Law given by Equation 1
where is the viscosity of the fluid, s and f are the
densities of the sphere and fluid respectively, g is the
acceleration due to gravity, d is the diameter of the
sphere, and t is the time it takes for the sphere to travel
the length l. (Measurement of Viscosity in a Vertical
Falling Ball Viscometer, 2008)
2 Materials and Methodology
2.1 Preparation of Sugar Solutions
The stock solution (60% w/w sugar solution) was
prepared by mixing 300 g of refined white sugar with
200 mL of water. It was stirred constantly over a hot
plate until no more sugar crystals were seen. The other
solutions with concentrations of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%
and 50% by weight were each prepared by diluting a
specified amount of stock solution with water. Mass
and volume of the solutions (including pure water and
a 60% w/w solution sample) were measured using an
analytical balance and a graduated cylinder. Density
was calculated then. Solutions were set aside as they
reached room temperature.
 ChE 135 CLM Determining Viscosity of Sugar Solutions

2.2 Determination of Viscosity

Permanent marker was applied on glass beads.
The mass of the glass beads was measured. The volume
of a glass bead was calculated given its diameter of 4
mm. Two points were conveniently marked on the Table 1. Density of Sugar Solutions
burette and the distance between them was recorded. Density
For a number of trials, the time elapsed as a glass bead of Fluid
was dropped into the burette filled with sugar solution wt% (kg/m3)
was recorded. This was done for all solutions.
0% 1000
10% 1059
20% 1118
30% 1177
40% 1236
50% 1295
60% 1354

Viscosity of sugar solutions were then calculated

using the formula and the results were tabulated below.

Figure 1. Experimental Setup on Determination of Table 2. Summary of Results

Viscosity Sugar Terminal Viscosity
Solution Average Velocity (Pa-s)
(wt%) Time (s) (m/s)
0% 1.646667 0.309717 0.041496
3 Results and Discussion 10% 1.726667 0.295367 0.04177
20% 1.743333 0.292543 0.040415
In this experiment, the viscosity of the different 30% 1.776667 0.287054 0.039395
sugar solutions were determined using the formula: 40% 1.958333 0.260426 0.041448
50% 2.646667 0.192695 0.053347
( ) 2
= (1) 60% 5.315 0.095955 0.101768
18

The total length travelled by the ball, is

measured to be 0.51 meters while the diameter of the Viscosity vs Concentration
sphere, was measured to be around 4mm. Density of 0.12
the sphere was also calculated and was equal to
2473.86 kg/m3 while the density of the fluid varied with 0.1
concentration and was calculated using the mixing rule.
Viscosity (Pa-s)

0.08
Both density of pure water (1000 kg/m3) and pure sugar
(1590kg/m3) were used to determine the densities 0.06
tabulated below.
0.04

0.02
Table 1. Density of Sugar Solutions at different Concentrations
0
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Concentration (wt%)
 ChE 135 CLM Determining Viscosity of Sugar Solutions

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

It can be concluded that the settling time for the

ball increases as the concentration of the sugar solution
increases. This means that the sugar solution becomes
more viscous as it gets more concentrated.

Furthermore, based on the graph, it can then be

concluded that the relationship between concentration
and viscosity is nonlinear.

References
Geankoplis, C. (1993). Transport Processes and Unit
Operations. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Measurement of Viscosity in a Vertical Falling Ball

Viscometer. (2008, October 27). Retrieved March 2,
2017, from American Laboratory:
http://www.americanlaboratory.com/913-Technical-
Articles/778-Measurement-of-Viscosity-in-a-Vertical-
Falling-Ball-Viscometer/

Secco, R., deBruyn, J., & Kostic, M. (2014). Fluid

Viscosity Measurement. In Measurement,
Instrumentation, and Sensors Handbook (pp. 46-1-46-
31). CRC Press.
 ChE 135 CLM Determining Viscosity of Sugar Solutions

Appendix: Sample calculations

Add other appendices as needed