Experiment No.

(2)
DETERMINATION OF LIQUID VISCOSITY BY STOCK`S METHOD

INTRODUCTION:
This laboratory investigation involves determining the viscosity and mass
density ofan unknown fluid using Stokes’ Law. Viscosity is a fluid
property that provides anindication of the resistance to shear within a
fluid. Specifically, you will be using afluid column as a viscometer. To
obtain the viscometer readings you will use astopwatch to determine the
rate of drop of various spheres within the fluid. You willdetermine both
density and viscosity.
Definition of Viscosity: that properties of fluid which causes resistance to
relative motion (or shear) within a fluid.
Types of viscometers:
1. Rotational cylinder viscometer.
2. Capillary glass viscometer.
3. Falling ball viscometer.

OBJECTIVE:To master the basic concepts of fluid mechanics and to

determine the dynamic coefficient of viscosity for a liquid.

EQUIPMENTS:
1. Graduated cylinder.
2. Digital balance.
3. Micrometer.
4. Vernier.
5. Ruler.
6. Stop-watch.
7. Metallic ball.
8. Different liquids (olive oil, engine oil).

THEORY:

The motion of spheres in viscous fluids (laminar flow): In principle, the

force Fdrequired to drag a sphere of diameterdat velocity Vthrough a fluid
of viscosityµ can becalculated. Since the derivation is beyond the scope
of this lab, we simply quote the result as:

Fd= 6πµV(d/2) ………………………………………………………………………..(1)

Where:Fdis the drag force of the fluid on a sphere, µis the fluid viscosity,
V is thevelocity of the sphere relative to the fluid, and dis the diameter of
the sphere. Usingthis equation, along with other well-known principle of
physics, we can write anexpression that describes the rate at which the
sphere falls through a quiescent,viscous fluid.
We must draw a free body diagram (FBD) of the sphere. That is we
mustsketch the sphere and all of the internal and external forces acting on
the sphere as itis dropped into the fluid. Figure 1 shows a sketch of the
entire system (spheredropping through a column of liquid). The FBD is
the dashed cross-section that hasbeen removed and exploded in the left
portion of this figure.

Figure 1: Free-body diagram of a sphere in a quiescent fluid.

The FBD in this figure lists three forces acting on the sphere; Fb, Fd, and
mg. Thefirst two forces arise from the buoyancy effect of displacing the
fluid in question andfrom the viscous drag of the fluid on the sphere,
respectively. Both forces act upwards buoyancy tending to 'float' the
sphere (Fb) and the drag force (Fd)resisting the acceleration of gravity.
The only force acting downwards is the bodyforce resulting from
gravitational attraction (mg). By summing forces in the verticaldirection
we can write the following equation,

………………………………………………….(2)
The buoyancy force is simply the weight of displaced fluid. As you may
recall fromearlier work in science and math, the volume of a sphere
(vsphere) is written as,

…………………………………………… (3)

Combining this volume with the mass density of the fluid, ρfluid, we can
now write thebuoyancy force as the product,

………………………….. (4)

Where gis the gravitational acceleration and r is the radius of the sphere.
Combiningall of the previous relationships that describe the forces acting
on the sphere in a fluidwe can write the following expression,

………………….….. (5)

Rearranging and regrouping the terms from the above equation we arrive
at thefollowing relationship,

…………………………….….. (6)

Falling Ball Viscometers

The falling ball viscometer is based on Stokes’ Law, and is what we will
use in thislaboratory investigation. This type of viscometer consists of a
circular cylindercontaining the fluid and a smooth ball. The ball is placed
in the fluid and the time thatit takes to fall the length of the cylinder is
recorded. This time is then utilized to backthe viscosity out of the
velocity relationship that we derived using Stokes’ Law andsumming
forces. As the ball is dropped into the fluid it accelerates as a result of
thegravitational field until the ball reaches terminal velocity. Terminal
velocity occurswhen the viscous and buoyancy forces equal the weight of
the ball. At this point thevelocity of the ball is maximum, or terminal. To
simplify our approach, we will allowthe ball to reach terminal velocity
prior to making the time measurements.
Laboratory Procedure:
1) At your lab station you will find several different sizes of spheres of
metallic balls.
2) Using the micrometer determine the diameter of the largest ball or
sphere. You must convert this measurement to SI units. Next using the
digital balance scales, find the mass of the sphere. You can now use these
two numbers to determine the density of the sphere in (g/cm3).
3) Next you will need to measure the fall time of the sphere through the
fluid that contained in the()-mL graduated cylinder. To do this use the
stopwatchto measure the amount of time it takes for the sphere to fall
from the ()-mL mark to the ()-mL mark.
4) Repeat steps for the remaining two other Liquids of differentdensities.
5) Measure the distance using the ruler between the upper graduation line
and the lower graduation line.
6) Now using the time recorded from the stopwatch for each sphere
dropped and thedistance measurement between the graduation lines,
determine the velocity ofeach sphere as it passed through the fluid (cm/s).
7) Using Stokes’ Law provided in the lab manual, determine the viscosity
(µ) of thefluid using the average velocity of the three spheres. A common
unit of viscosityis the Poise, or 1 g/cm.s.
8)

Readings:

Liquid 1 Ball Fluid Radius Velocity Dynamic

density density of ball of ball viscosity

Liquid 2 Ball Fluid Radius Velocity Dynamic

density density of ball of ball viscosity

Liquid 3 Ball Fluid Radius Velocity Dynamic

density density of ball of ball viscosity
Discussion:
1. What the effect of fluid temperature on viscosity value?
2. What the effect of fluid density on viscosity value?
3. What the effect of ball radius change on viscosity value?
4. What the effect of ball density on viscosity value?
5. What the effect of ball velocity on viscosity value?
6. What the effect of ball weight on viscosity value?
7. How we can get the value of ball density?
8. How we can measure the tube glass diameter?
9. What the effect of fluid quantity on ball velocity?
10.Should the terminal velocity of two different size spheres be the
same?
11.Does a larger sphere have a higher terminal velocity?
12.Should the viscosity found for two different size spheres be the
same? Why or why not?
13.What are the shortcomings of this method?
14.Why should temperature be recorded?
15.Can this method be used for gases?