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Nicole Larkin
Elizabeth Neoman
Honors Physics, Block G
Mr. Ambrose
7 December 2015
The Effects of Temperature on Viscosity of Water
Fluid dynamics is the study of the flow of fluids and gases. A fluid, either liquid or gas,
flows to assume the shape of its container. More specifically, a fluid is a substance that
continuously flows under applied shear stress. The flow of a fluid mainly depends on its
characteristics, the speed of flow, and the shape of the surface. The viscosity, density and
compressibility of a fluid are characteristics that determine how the fluid will flow. Viscosity is
caused by frictional forces between the fluid and the stationary surface or by forces within the
fluid (Datta 1). Viscosity is a measurement of a fluids resistance to shearing forces, a type of
force that occurs when two objects slide parallel to one another. Fluids have many molecules
which exert a shear force on one another. Fluids with a low viscosity have a low resistance to
shear forces, so the molecules flow more easily past one another (Weather 1). When large
intermolecular forces are present in a liquid it will move slower. Also, liquids that have complex
molecular structure will tend to have a higher viscosity because the molecules can become
tangled and impede one another. Viscosity is a thermodynamic property that varies with
pressure, temperature and fluid nature. Liquids generally show a decrease in viscosity with
increasing temperature (Viscosity 1).
The four fluid behaviors are Bingham plastic, Newtonian, shear thinning, and shear
thickening. Bingham plastics behave as solids at low stresses and flow as viscous fluids at high
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temperatures (College of Engineering, Lesson: Viscous Fluids 1). The viscosity of shear
thinning fluids becomes reduced as the shear rate is increased. On the other hand, shear
thickening fluids have a higher viscosity as the shear rate is increased. In non-Newtonian fluids
the viscosity changes with different amounts of shear stress. Water, which is classified as a
Newtonian fluid, has a constant viscosity that is independent of velocity (Viscosity 1). In
Newtonian fluids the shear stress is directly proportional to the shear rate. This means that the
viscosity measurement will remain constant regardless of velocity. When an object free falls
through a fluid, the force of gravity is balanced by the fluids resistance to shear forces. This is
called terminal velocity, the point at which the falling object has a constant velocity (College of
Engineering, Hands-on Activity: Measuring Viscosity 1).
Viscosity is measured in poise (P or Po) or centipoise (cP or cPo), where one centipoise
equals 100 poises, and one poise is equal to 0.1 pascal-second. The unit of poise was classified
in 1924, named after the French physician and physiologist Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, who
calculated the mathematical expressions for the flow rate of fluids in circular tubes (Viscosity
1). NASA completed an experiment to test a method of measuring viscosity in high-viscosity
materials. They measured how long it took for two nearly free-floating drops of a liquid to merge
and demonstrated that when the surface tension of an object is known, the coefficient for
viscosity can be determined by the contact radius speed (Ethridge 1). Similarly, our project will
determine viscosity by timing an object of known mass as it falls through the fluids.
We hypothesize that if the temperature is raised, then viscosity will decrease. The goal of
our project is to demonstrate that an increase in temperature causes viscosity to decrease by
constructing a visual model. We will see how fast a sphere falls through a fluid. The faster the
sphere falls, the lower the viscosity. If the fluid has a high viscosity it resists flow, so the sphere
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falls slowly. If the fluid has a low viscosity it offers less resistance to flow, so the ball will fall
faster. By throwing an object with known mass and volume and measuring the amount of time it
takes to fall, viscosity can be calculated. We will find the viscosity of water by calculating the
terminal velocity of a spherical ball as it falls through the fluid, and the densities of the ball and
water. We will measure the amount of time it takes for the spherical marbles to fall a given
distance through the water. The independent variable is the temperature and the dependent
variable is viscosity. The controlled variables are the type of liquid used, the mass and shape of
the marbles, the distance the marble falls, and the volume and height of the graduated cylinders.
We will calculate the mass of the liquid by subtracting the mass of the empty cylinder
from the mass of the fluid in the cylinder, the volume of the graduated cylinder by using V=
radius2 height and the volume of the marble by using V=4/3r3, and calculate the densities of
the liquid and the marble by using density=mass (kg)/volume (cm3). We will time the marble as it
falls through the liquid and measure the distance it falls to find the velocity of the marble with
the equation velocity=distance traveled (cm)/time it takes to drop (s). By rearranging the
equation for terminal velocity, we will calculate the viscosity of the liquid:
where is the viscosity of the fluid, g is gravity, ps is the density of the sphere and pf is the
density of the fluid, and Vs is the terminal velocity (College of Engineering, Hands-on Activity:
Measuring Viscosity 1).
Works Cited
College of Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder. Hands-on Activity: Measuring
Viscosity. www.TeachEngineering.org. N.p., 2011. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
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College of Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder. Lesson: Viscous Fluids.
www.TeachEngineering.org. N.p., 2011. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Datta, Sreela. Fluid Dynamics. The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner
and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 5th ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2014. Science in
Context. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Ethridge, Edwin C. Fluid Merging Viscosity Measurement (FMVM) - 07.22.15.
www.NASA.gov. NASA, 22 July 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Lerner, Ed K. Lee, and Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth. Viscosity. The Gale Encyclopedia of
Science. 5th ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2014. Science in Context. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Weaver, Hane Jefferson.Viscosity. World of Physics. Gale, 2001. Science in Context.
Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
