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Viscosity and Viscometry
The physical quantity ‘viscosity’ gives information on how thick a fluid is and how
easily it flows. In scientific terms, viscosity is the measure of a fluid’s internal flow
resistance. It is the resistance which a fluid shows when being deformed.
This page focuses on how to define viscosity, the different types of viscosity, and
the different types of liquids which show either Newtonian or non-Newtonian flow
behavior. Viscosity is a physical parameter which is measured throughout industry
to gain insight into materials and their behavior.
Table of contents
Viscosity and Viscometry

Viscosity-related information
Learn more
1. What are Newtonian liquids?
2. What influences flow behavior?

2.1. Laminar or turbulent flow
2.2. Temperature
2.3. Pressure
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3. Types of viscosity
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3.1. Dynamic viscosity
3.2. Kinematic viscosity
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3.3. Relative viscosity
3.4. Apparent viscosity  Web
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4. References
Viscosity-related information
Viscosity measurement
Discover the different principles behind measuring viscosity
Viscosity Index
VI and the viscosity-temperature behavior of oils
Viscosity tables
From acetone to crude oil to whole blood –the official viscosity
tables

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Viscosity Calculators
Dynamic viscosity <> kinematic viscosity, ASTM standards,
Saybolt Furol and Saybolt universal, viscosity index
Viscometers
Solutions for viscosity measurement
Master the flow

The whole world of viscometry and rheometry
Learn more

Articles about viscosity
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Discover more in-depth articles on viscosity and related topics:
Viscosity measurement
Understanding the viscosity index
A comparison of viscometer types
Rotational viscosity and choosing the right spindles
Why engine oil viscosity is so important in Formula 1
Flow curve and yield point determination
View more articles
Viscosity tables
Finde useful viscosity tables to help you in your daily work:
ISO viscosity classification

SAE viscosity grades
Viscosity of bunker oil - marine fuel oil
Viscosity of crude oil
Viscosity of engine oil
Viscosity of water
View more tables
Viscometers
Anton Paar offers a wide range of viscometers to suit different applications and
industrial requirements:
Kinematic viscometer: SVM 2001

Rotational viscometer: ViscoQC 100
Rotational viscometer: ViscoQC 300
Rolling-ball viscometer: Lovis 2000 M/ME
View all viscometers
How to define viscosity

In order to determine a fluid’s viscosity, you have to enter the field of viscometry, a
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subject area of a wider science called rheology. Rheology loginwith
the flow
behavior and deformation of materials.
Imagine all materials as classified on a virtual scale from solid to liquid. Scientists
specify solid materials as being elastic and liquids as being viscous. In everyday
life, we mostly come across viscoelastic materials. That is, substances which are
neither completely elastic, nor entirely viscous. According to a material’s
properties, we either classify it as a viscoelastic solid (like e.g. sweet jelly) or as a
viscoelastic liquid (like e.g. a yoghurt drink or shower gel).
The specific field of viscometry covers ideally viscous fluids, and – considering
certain restrictions – also viscoelastic liquids, i.e. viscous fluids that contain an
elastic portion. Fluids which flow easily show a low resistance to deformation.
They are low-viscosity fluids. High-viscosity fluids resist deformation.
Consequently, they do not flow easily.
Figure 1: Comparing high-viscosity fluid to low-viscosity fluid. At the same temperature, the
former flows slower than the latter.

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Figure 2: From ideally viscous liquids to elastic solids. Viscoelastic materials in everyday life.
The two plates model
Figure 3: The virtual viscous sandwich: the two-plates model. Laminar flow consisting of
infinitesimally thin layers.
The two-plates model provides a mathematical description for viscosity. Think of a

kind of sandwich[1]: There are two plates with fluid placed in-between. The correct
calculation of parameters related to viscosity depends on two criteria:
1. The fluid does not glide along the plates but is in good contact with them.
Scientifically speaking, an adhesive force operates between fluid and plates.
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of paper sheets (or
beer mats).
The lower plate does not move. The upper plate drifts aside very slowly and
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subjects the fluid to a stress, which is parallel to its surface: stress (tau).
loginshear
the
The force applied to the upper plate (in newton) divided by this plate’s area (in
square meters) defines the shear stress. Force/area results in the unit N/m², which
is named pascal [Pa] after Blaise Pascal[2].
F N
τ = [ ]
2
A m
Equation 1: Shear stress
Figure 4: Using the two-plates model to calculate the shear stress. Shear stress is the force
moving the upper plate divided by the plate’s area.
consent
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is the velocity of the
moving plate divided by the distance between the plates.

The two-plates model allows for calculating another parameter: the shear rate
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(gamma-dot or also D).
The shear rate is the velocity of the upper plate (in meters per second) divided by
the distance between the two plates (in meters). Its unit is [1/s] or reciprocal
second [s-1].
v m 1
−1
γ̇ = (D =) [ ][ ] = [s ]
h s ⋅ m s
Equation 2: Shear rate
According to Newton’s Law[3], shear stress is viscosity times shear rate.

Therefore, the viscosity (eta) is shear stress divided by shear rate. Only
Newtonian liquids can be described by this simple relation.
τ Pa
τ = η⋅γ̇ → η = [P a ⋅ s] = [ ]
1
γ̇
s
Equation 3: Newton’s Law reformulated: Dynamic viscosity is shear stress divided by shear
rate.
What are Newtonian liquids?
Figure 6. Viscosity functions show dynamic viscosity vs. shear rate. Different types of flow
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Shear-thinning (2) info
| Shear-thickening (3)
flow resistance is independent of the external force – i.e. the
If a fluid’s internal
Such
shear rate – acting upon the fluid, it is ideally viscous. Web named
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fluids
‘Newtonian liquids’ after Sir Isaac Newton.
A viscosity function shows the viscosity over the shear rate. For a Newtonian
liquid, this function is a straight line (curve 1); see figure 6.
Typical Newtonian liquids are water or salad oil.
If its viscosity changes with the shear rate, a liquid is non-Newtonian and – for
exact definition – one has to specify the apparent viscosity.
Different shear-dependent fluids behave differently: For some, their viscosity

decreases when the shear rate increases (curve 2 | e.g. yogurt), while for others
the viscosity increases with increasing shear rate (curve 3 | e.g. starch solutions).
The flow behavior of non-Newtonian liquids can be far more complex than these
basic examples. To learn more consult “The Rheology Handbook”[4].
Still, shear rate is not the only influencer. Three factors determine a substance’s
flow behavior.
What influences flow behavior?
1. The substance’s inner – molecular – structure. A highly viscous substance

features tightly linked molecules. It resists deformation.
2. The shear rate or the shear stress, respectively, as external force. This
includes all kinds of actions: wiping, or pushing, or pulling a substance, or –
most commonly – gravity. The influence further depends on the strength and
on the duration of the external force.
3. The ambient conditions: temperature and pressure. These parameters
determine under which conditions a substance flows and which type of flow it
develops. To measure viscosity, laminar flow is required.

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Figure 7. Three factors are responsible for a substance’s flow behavior: Inner molecular
structure, outside forces acting on the material, and current ambient conditions
Figure 8. In laminar flow, molecules move in orderly layers, while in turbulent flow they follow no
pattern.

Laminar or turbulent flow
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Laminar flow means that the substance moves in imaginary thin layers. Molecules
do not move from one layer to another, their movement forms a regular pattern.
Turbulent flow is not structured because molecules move at random. This leads to
eddies and vortices and causes erroneous results during measurement. The
viscosity appears higher than it is, because the test device falsely registers the
molecules’ random behavior as higher flow resistance.
For example, submitting a fluid to a too high shear rate during the test can result
in turbulent flow. That could happen if a glass capillary viscometer is too wide for
the tested substance (i.e. the run times become too short) or if the spindle of a
rotational viscometer turns too fast.
Temperature
Figure 10
Apart from the shear rate, temperature strongly influences a fluid’s viscosity. A
substance’s viscosity decreases with increasing temperature and vice versa. This
inversely proportional relation applies to all substances.
Any change in temperature always influences viscosity, but for different fluids, the
size of this influence varies. Certain fluids react with a 10 % increase in viscosity if
temperature decreases by 1 °C.
A fluid’s viscosity strongly depends on its temperature. Even a 1 K (1 °C)

temperature decrease can raise the viscosity by 10 % (Figure 10).
Pressure

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Figure 11: Pressure has less influence on viscosity than temperature. Raising the pressure by a
factor 300, results in a viscosity increase of approximately 10 %.
Normally, an increase in pressure causes a fluid’s viscosity to increase, too[5].

However, fluids are not dramatically affected if the applied pressure is low or
medium: liquids are almost non-compressible in this pressure range.
Most liquids react to a significantly altered pressure (from 0.1 MPa to 30 MPa)
with a viscosity change of about 10 %. For comparison: This same change in
viscosity is usually provoked by a minor temperature change of 1 K (1 °C).
In case the pressure goes up from 0.1 MPa to 200 MPa, the viscosity can rise to 3
to 7 times the original value. This applies to most low-molecular liquids. Highly
viscous mineral oils react with a viscosity increase of times 20000 under identical
circumstances.
For synthetic oil this pressure change can even result in a viscosity increase by a
factor of up to 8 million. For example, lubricants in cogwheels or gears can be
submitted to pressures of 1 GPa and higher.
1 bar = 0.1 MPa = 105 Pa = 105 N/m2

Equation 4. Conversion of pressure units.
In most liquids, pressure reduces the free volume in the internal structure, and
thus limits the movability of molecules. Consequently, internal friction and viscosity
increase.
How does water behave under pressure?

It is common knowledge that water has its maximum density at +4 °C. Another
anomaly affects the flow behavior of water under pressure. For temperatures
>+32 °C, the viscosity of water also increases with increasing pressure. If water is
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the structure of the three-
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Dynamic viscosity
The Greek symbol η (eta) represents the dynamic viscosity. In order to obtain
dynamic viscosity (sometimes also known as shear viscosity), one has to
reformulate Newton’s Law:
τ Pa
τ = η⋅γ̇ → η = [P a ⋅ s] = [ ]
1
γ̇
s
Equation 4: Newton's Law. How to derive dynamic viscosity.
SI (International System of Units[6]) units:
[Pa.s.] Pascal-second or [mPa.s] millipascal-second. 1 Pa.s = 1000 mPa.s
Other commonly used units:
[P] Poise or [cP] centipoise (named after Jean Poiseuille[7]): 1 P = 100 cP

Relation between units: 1 cP = 1 mPa.s
Dynamic viscosity is preferably used in the fields of life science and research.
Kinematic viscosity
The kinematic viscosity ν (ny) reflects the influence of the gravitational force on a
substance’s flow. Dynamic viscosity divided by density ρ (rho), gives kinematic
viscosity. As density is defined as mass per volume, gravity comes into the
equation via the quantity mass.
2
η m m kg
ν = [ ] ρ = [ ]
3
ρ s V m
Equation 5. Kinematic viscosity is dynamic viscosity divided by density. Gravitational influence is

introduced through the mass, which is contained in density.
SI units:
[ms2/s] square meters per second or [mm2/s] square millimeters per second
1 m2/s = 1 000 000 mm2/s
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m ⎡ Pa ⋅ s ⎤ ⎡ 2 ⎤
m ⋅s
[ ] = =
kg kg
s I accept
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⎣ info ⎦
3 3
m m
kg ⋅ m
[N ] = [
s
2
]
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2 3
m kg ⋅ m m
[ ] = [ ⋅ s ⋅ ]
2 2
s s ⋅ m kg
Equation 6. Deriving the SI unit of kinematic viscosity via the reformulated Newton’s Law.
Other commonly used units:
[St] stokes or [cSt] centistokes (named after George G. Stokes[8]).

1 St = 100 cSt
1 cSt = 1 mm2/s
Kinematic viscosity is widely used for all petrochemical fluids such as fuels or lube
oils.
Relative viscosity
Relative viscosity is a vital parameter when measuring dissolved polymers[9].
A polymer’s quality is strongly linked to its molar mass. The majority of polymers
show a distinct relation between molar mass and viscosity. Therefore, in order to
determine molar mass, one can measure viscosity instead. As a rule, the viscosity
of polymer solutions increases with increasing molar mass. In fact, most polymer
solutions are shear-dependent (i.e. non-Newtonian).

measurement of polymers in solution. First, measure the pure solvent and
Figure 11. Viscosity
then a polymer solution of defined concentration.  Web
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However, in a range of sufficiently low shear rates, their behavior is Newtonian.

Dividing the viscosity of the polymer solution (η) by the viscosity of the pure
solvent (ηο) gives the relative viscosity with the dimensionless unit[1].
The relative viscosity ηr is the base for calculating other parameters, which are
relevant in polymer quality control:
η
ηr = [1]
η0
Equation 7: Relative viscosity is the viscosity of the polymer solution divided by the viscosity of
pure solvent.
Logarithmic viscosity number (also called inherent viscosity)

Specific viscosity (also called relative viscosity increment)
Reduced viscosity (also called viscosity number (VN) or Staudinger Function)
Intrinsic viscosity (also called limiting viscosity number (LVN) or Staudinger
Index)
K-value
Molar mass (molar mass is given as g/mol in most cases. It is defined as the
mass of a certain substance divided by the amount of substance.)
Apparent viscosity
Figure 12: Viscosity function of a shear-thinning fluid (e.g. shampoo). Apparent viscosity at a
shear rate of 60⁻¹ shown as an example.
Newtonian fluids have constant viscosity for all shear rate
Ideally viscous or
the
values. For shear-dependent fluids, on the other hand, 
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varies.
Therefore, you need to specify at which shear rate a viscosity value was
determined. This is the “apparent viscosity” or “apparent shear viscosity”. Each
apparent value is one point of the viscosity function (eta over shear rate).
Example:
−1
η(γ̇ = 60s ) = 398 mP a ⋅ s
References
1. Mezger, T. (2011). The Rheology Handbook. 3rd revised ed. Hanover: Vincentz
Network, pp.21-24.
2. Adamson, D. (1995). Blaise Pascal: mathematician, physicist and thinker about
God. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
3. Newton, I. (1687). Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (“Principia”).
London.
Network.
Network, pp.85-87.
6. Wikipedia, (2017). International System of Units. [online] Available at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units [Accessed 06 Mar. 2017]
7. Pfitzner, J. (1976), Poiseuille and his law. Anaesthesia, 31: 273–275.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2044.1976.tb11804.x
8. Wilson, D. B. (1987), Kelvin and Stokes: A Comparative Study in Victorian
Physics. Bristol: Adam Hilger.
9. Kulicke, W.-M. and Clasen, C. (2004). Viscosimetry of Polymers and
Polyelectrolytes. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
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Home / Wiki / Basics of viscometry

Viscosity and Viscometry

Viscosity and Viscometry

1. What are Newtonian liquids?

2. What influences flow behavior?

I accept cookies More info

Master the flow

View more articles

Finde useful viscosity tables to help you in your daily work:

ISO viscosity classification

View more tables

Kinematic viscometer: SVM 2001

View all viscometers

I accept cookies More info

The two plates model

The two-plates model provides a mathematical description for viscosity. Think of a

Equation 1: Shear stress

Equation 2: Shear rate

According to Newton’s Law[3], shear stress is viscosity times shear rate.

What are Newtonian liquids?

Typical Newtonian liquids are water or salad oil.

Different shear-dependent fluids behave differently: For some, their viscosity

What inﬂuences ﬂow behavior?

1. The substance’s inner – molecular – structure. A highly viscous substance

I accept cookies More info

I accept cookies More info

A fluid’s viscosity strongly depends on its temperature. Even a 1 K (1 °C)

I accept cookies More info

Normally, an increase in pressure causes a fluid’s viscosity to increase, too[5].

1 bar = 0.1 MPa = 105 Pa = 105 N/m2

How does water behave under pressure?

Equation 4: Newton's Law. How to derive dynamic viscosity.

SI (International System of Units[6]) units:

[Pa.s.] Pascal-second or [mPa.s] millipascal-second. 1 Pa.s = 1000 mPa.s

Other commonly used units:

[P] Poise or [cP] centipoise (named after Jean Poiseuille[7]): 1 P = 100 cP

Equation 5. Kinematic viscosity is dynamic viscosity divided by density. Gravitational influence is

Other commonly used units:

[St] stokes or [cSt] centistokes (named after George G. Stokes[8]).

Relative viscosity is a vital parameter when measuring dissolved polymers[9].

I accept cookies More info

However, in a range of sufficiently low shear rates, their behavior is Newtonian.

Logarithmic viscosity number (also called inherent viscosity)

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