Viscosity

The general concept of viscosity is a familiar one. Less mobile liquids such as tar and lubricating oils are said to have greater viscosity than the more mobile liquids such as water and benzene. In general, it may be stated that the flow rate of a liquid is determined by its viscosity. More precisely, the resistance experienced by one layer of liquid in moving past another layer is called the viscosity. A column of liquid in a circular tube can be considered to be made up of concentric layers, or cylinders of liquid. In moving through the tube, the layer nearest the wall remains stationary if wetting of the surface takes place. Each successive inner layer moves past, on the inside, with a velocity that increases as the centre of the tube is approached. It is known as streamline flow and is generally characterised by the absence of eddies and turbulence. The coefficient of viscosity is usually represented by Greek letter Eta () and its SI unit is: 1 Pa s = N s m-2 = 1 kg m-1 s-1 The unit viscosity (Pa s) is defined as such viscosity that unit force (1 newton) unit area is required to cause two parallel liquid surfaces of unit area (1 m2) and unit distance (1 m) apart to slide past each other with unit velocity ( 1m s-1). 1 Pa s is defined as the viscosity where a force of 1 Newton is required in order to slide a surface 1 square metre in area past a parallel surface at a velocity of 1 metre per second, with the surfaces separated by a fluid film 1 metre thick. This definition may be expressed by the equation.

=
F force

F x S v
S area

Nm = Pa s m m s 1
2

x distance

v difference of velocity

The old unit was poise. 1 poise = 100 centipoise = 1 g cm-1 s-1 = 0.1 kg m-1 s-1 Kinematic viscosity is the ratio of the dynamic viscosity of the liquid and its density at the same temperature:

1 stokes = 1 cm2 s-1 = 10-4 m2 s-1

The SI unit is: m2 s-1. The old unit was:

The table below shows some viscosities of liquids at 20 0C: Liquid Acetone Benzene

(kg m-1 s-1)

0.000331 0.000647

Ethanol Nitrobenzene Water Ostwald viscosimeter

0.001194 0.001980 0.001005

The Ostwald viscosimeter can be used for the determination of viscosity. A simple form of this instrument is shown in figure 1. The method of determining viscosity with this instrument consists of measuring the time for a known volume of the liquid (the volume c contained between the marks A and B) to flow through the capillary b (of known length and radius) under the influence of gravity. The liquid gathers in a which is about three times greater than the volume of c. Poiseuille obtained the following equation applicable to the Ostwald procedure:

r4 p t
8V l

Figure 1. Ostwald viscosimeter where p is hydrostatic pressure on the liquid (proportional to the density ), t is the time of flow in seconds, r is the radius of the tube, l is the length of the capillary in centimetres, and V is the volume of the liquid in cubic centimetres. The equation may be determined experimentally for a given viscosimeter so that the absolute viscosity can be calculated. The usual procedure is to determine the viscosity relative to a reference substance at a selected temperature. This is determined as the relative viscosity. Water at 20 0C is usually used as the reference liquid. To obtain the relative viscosity of a substance at a given temperature, it is necessary to measure its time of flow at the temperature and the corresponding time of flow for the same volume of water (or another reference liquid) in the

same viscosimeter at 25 0C. Since the pressure of a liquid in a viscosimeter of this type is proportional to its density, and since the terms r, V and l in the Poiseuille equation are the same for both liquids, it follows the ratio of viscosities is given by the following equation:

1 1 t1 = 2 2 t 2

1 =

1 t1 2 2 t 2

If substance 2 is the reference liquid, assign 2 a value of unity. Then 1 is calculated by substitution of the densities and the flow times. The Ostwald procedure is not suitable for the determination of the viscosity of highly and moderately viscous liquids. The procedure often used for these is the falling ball method. Falling ball viscosimeter The falling ball viscosimeter measures the viscosity of transparent liquids. It uses the correlation between viscosity and the time it takes for a ball to fall a defined distance through the liquid. The sample is in a slightly inclined cylindrical measuring tube. The ball is timed as it rolls and slides through the liquid. The main part of the instrument is a glass measuring tube and a ball. There are three marks on the inner glass tube. Mark B is equidistant between A and C. The outer glass cylinder b serves as a constant temperature bath. A thermostat and pump use the inlet/outlet tubes c to keep it filled with a liquid at constant temperature. The measuring tube is fastened to the stand e so that its axis is inclined to the vertical by 10 0. This is adjusted precisely by the screw i. Thermometer d measures the temperature of the bath to 0.05 0C. The horizontal position is controlled by screws g and bubble balance f. Axis h enables the cylinder b to turn around by 180 0 to let the ball return to the initial position. Stoppers j and k and both covers l enclose the liquid tightly. The upper closure has a capillary feature to avoid air bubbles.

Figure 2. Falling ball viscosimeter The easily changeable thermometer enables precise temperature control. The sample should be at rest in the measuring tube at the test temperature for at least 15 minutes before measurement is started. The temperature in the jacket around the measuring tube must be maintained to within 0.05 0C for temperatures between 10 0C and 80 0C. The standard set of six balls contains two made from glass, two from nickel-iron alloy and two from wolfram. Thus samples with viscosities in the range from 0.6 to 75000 mPa s can be measured. The dynamic viscosity (in mPa s) is calculated using the following equation

= K(1- 2) t
where K = 1 = 2 = t = ball constant in mPa s cm3 g-1 s-1 density of the ball in g cm-3 density of the liquid, to be measured at the test temperature in g cm-3 falling time of the ball in seconds

Determined viscosities are given in units mPa s (cP) and must be completed by stating the sample temperature. Dynamic viscosity may be converted to kinematic viscosity by using the following equation

= /

kinematic viscosity in mm2 s-1

( 1 mm2 s-1 = 1 cSt)

 dynamic viscosity in mPa s density of the liquid sample ( g cm-3 = 103 kg m-3)

Authors: Jelka Sodja Boi, Toma Ogrin Institution: Jozef Stefan Institute

For further information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/pfric.html http://xtronics.com/reference/viscosity.htm http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/ViscosityTe.html http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/Viscosity.html http://www.onlineconversion.com/viscosity.htm http://www.oiml.org/publications/R/R069-e85.pdf http://www.oiml.org/publications/D/D017-e87.pdf Reference text books: 1. D.H. Crockford, J.W. Knowel, Laboratory manual of Physical Chemistry, John Willey1956, p.27. 55 2. H.B. Crockford, S.Knight Fundamentals of Physical Chemistry, A Wiley International Edition,1964, p. 49 3. D. Brennan, C.F.H. Tipper, A laboratory of manual of Experiments in Physical Chemistry, Graw-Hill Publishing company, 1967, p. 19 4. F. Daniels, Experimental Physical Chemistry, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1941, p. 414