Jamison 1

Matt Jamison

Mrs.Stevens & Mrs.Radcliffe

Physical Science

13 January 2017

How Does Heat Effect the Viscosity of a Liquid?

Have you ever wondered why the fat boy from Willy Wonka couldnt get out of the

chocolate pool? This might have been because he couldnt swim but if he could what was

stopping him. What was stopping him was viscosity. At the level of thickness the chocolate was

at when the boy fell in, he was in a liquid that had the viscosity almost as thick as honey. If I time

how fast a heated liquid is compared to a cooled version of that liquid then the heated liquid will

beat the cooled liquid every time.

What is Viscosity?

Viscosity is the resistance of a fluid to change shape or move. The opposite of this is

fluidity or how easily things flow. Viscosity is basically the friction between a liquid and the

surface it is moving on. An example of viscosity would be measuring how fast molasses flowed

down a ramp. High viscosity liquids, such as molasses, will flow slower. This means that liquids

that lack viscosity will flow faster than liquids such as molasses. Viscosity can be changed

though. This happens when the temperature of the liquid is changed. The change in temperature

causes the liquid to either flow faster or slower (Viscosity).

What Causes Liquids to Have Different Viscosity?

Friction is a major part of viscosity. Adjacent parts in a liquid such as molasses cause it to

move slower than liquids like water that have less viscosity. Different viscosity levels can be due
 Jamison 2

to the rubbing of the molecules in the substance. Heat slows down the rubbing of these

molecules causing the liquid to flow faster (Viscosity). The different shapes of the particles is

also a deciding factor. The size of the particles is too. As liquids expand they become faster. As

liquids condense they become slower (St. Rosemary).

What Happens When You Change a Liquid's Viscosity?

As the particles in a liquid gain energy they start to expand. When the liquid loses this

energy the particles grow closer slowing the liquid until the liquid finally stops moving

completely. Once this happens the liquid will freeze (St. Rosemary). The kinetic energy of a

liquid is increased when that liquid loses viscosity. The thermal energy increases as the liquid

loses viscosity as well. Eventually viscosity becomes so low that that liquid will turn to gas.

Cohesion is a part of a liquids viscosity. The word cohesion means bond (Fungilab)

How Do You Accurately Measure a Liquid's Viscosity?

There are multiple ways of measuring a liquids viscosity. One way of doing this is by

using capillary tubes that measure the amount of time it takes for a liquid to flow through one.

This way is called the capillary viscometer. The method stated had been used up until the 20th

century. Another way to accurately measure viscosity is to use the Zahn cup method.With this

method a person would have to see how long it would take for a liquid to empty out of a cup. A

third way of measuring viscosity is to use a falling sphere viscometer. For this third method the

person measuring would have to drop a sphere with a certain density and measure how long it

takes for the sphere to reach the bottom of the liquid. For all these methods to work you would

need to have a set temperature before measuring (Gatenby, Art)

 Jamison 3

What Is the Most Efficient Way to Change a Liquid's Temperature?

The best way to heat a liquid up is to boil it and let it cool ok it gets to the temperature

needed. If an accurate temperature is wanted, something to keep the liquid from cooling too fast

should also be present. A conventional stove is one way of heating the liquid up. Another way of

heating the liquid up is microwaving it. Those two ways are the simplest but a third way of

heating could be radiation. Different materials conduct heat better than others so the liquid

should probably be in something made of metal or something else that conducts heat well. You

would also need a enough of the liquid so that when you heat it up it wont evaporate completely

(Woodford, Chris).

Will Liquids With a Higher Viscosity Have a Greater Change in Viscosity Due to Temperature

Than Liquids With a Low Viscosity?

In all liquids viscosity changes when it is heated up. The surface tension of the liquid can

make it slower or faster flowing. When you heat high viscosity liquids they seem to have a

greater change in viscosity. The reason behind this is that when you heat high viscosity liquids

the molecules move quicker and are more spread out. Though this does change the liquid, it is

less because the molecules in the liquid are already moving fairly quickly so there is less room

for change. The surface tension in liquids is also lessened when there is more heat. Surface

tension changes more in liquids that have more tension to change. Low surface tension along

with low viscosity liquids change when heated but the change is not as great as their higher

leveled counterparts (Rohde, Alison).

 Jamison 4

If I time how fast a heated liquid is compared to a cooled version of that liquid, then the

heated liquid will beat the cooled liquid every time. Viscosity is the resistance to flow in a liquid.

If this is so, can viscosity be changed? If it can be changed, how different will it be from its

original state? These are all questions I will answer when I conduct my experiment.
 Jamison 5

Works Cited

Fungilab, Sponsored By. "How Does Temperature Change Viscosity in Liquids and Gases?"

AZoM.com. Fungilab, 02 June 2016. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

<http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10036>.

Gatenby, Art. "How Can I Measure Viscosity?" How Can I Measure Viscosity? Scientific

Company, Inc., 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

<http://www.cscscientific.com/csc-cientific-blog/bid/98427/How-Can-I-Measure-Viscosi

ty>.

Rohde, Alison. "How Does Changing the Temperature Affect the Viscosity & Surface Tension

of a Liquid? | The Classroom | Synonym." How Does Changing the Temperature Affect

the Viscosity & Surface Tension of a Liquid? | The Classroom | Synonym. N.p., 2001.

Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

<http://classroom.synonym.com/changing-temperature-affect-viscosity-surface-tension-li

quid-16797.html>.

St. Rosemary Educational Institution. "What is Viscosity? Application, Flow, Factors."

http://schoolworkhelper.net/. St. Rosemary Educational Institution, Last Update: 2016.

Web. Retrieved on: Tuesday 1st November 2016.

http://schoolworkhelper.net/what-is-viscosity-application-flow-factors/.

"Viscosity." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016. Web. 26 Oct.

2016. <https://www.britannica.com/science/viscosity>.
 Jamison 6

Woodford, Chris. "Heat - A Simple Introduction to the Science of Heat Energy." Explain That

Stuff. Chris Woodford, 27 June 2016. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.

<http://www.explainthatstuff.com/heat.html>.

Slinkard, Janis. "How Does Heat Effect the Viscosity of a Liquid." Personal interview. 14

Nov. 2016.