Experiment No.

02
Objective
To find the drag co-efficient in different medium.

Apparatus
i. Drag co-efficient apparatus.
ii. Small sphere ball.
iii. Stop Watch.

Figure 2.1: Viscosity coefficient measure

Theory
Viscosity is the internal friction in flows. The motion of fluid particles with internal
friction but without eddying is referred to as laminar flow. The internal friction is the
result of the dynamic effect between the molecules (dynamic viscosity). This is
particularly pronounced with poor molecular mobility, known as high viscosity.

The term used to express dynamic viscosity η is

Pa⋅s(1Pa⋅s = 1 Ns m2 )

(Pascal ⋅ s). For engineering applications, viscosity is normally utilized with respect to
density ρ, which gives the kinematic viscosity ν

i. ν=ηρ
expressed as m2s .

Viscosity is a material property (as is e.g. density or melting point) which is extensively
governed by the temperature of the medium. Viscosity decreases with increasing
temperature. By way of example, the relationship between viscosity and temperature is
shown for various oils in the adjacent graph.

One technical application of such temperature-dependence is the use of a load-sensitive

fluid coupling for 4WD passenger vehicles.

Viscosity is a fluid property that measures the resistance of a fluid to flow and can simply
be thought of as the “thickness” of a fluid. Fluids that have a high viscosity, such as
honey or molasses, have a high resistance to flow while fluids with a low viscosity, such
as a gas, flow easily. The resistance to deformation within a fluid can be expressed as
both absolute (or dynamic) viscosity, µ [Ns/m2], and kinematic viscosity, υ [m2/s].

Absolute viscosity is determined by the ratio of the shear stress to the shear rate of the
fluid. The shear stress is dependent on the fluid’s resistance force to flow over the area of
the plate while the shear rate is the equivalent to the fluid’s gradient.

F
s h ear stress τ A
µ= = =
s h ear rate gradient δ µ
δy

Flow resistance
As an object drops through a medium, a frictional force FR acts on the object due to the
viscosity of the medium. The direction of this force is always opposed to that of the flow
and is calculated as follows

ii. FR = ρ 2 v2 A cw

where

ρ - density of medium

v - flow velocity

A - max. cross-section opposing flow

cw - coefficient of resistance (governed by shape of object)

The coefficient of resistance is dimensionless. For a ball it is roughly 0.2-0.4; the values
for modern passenger cars are around 0.2-0.3.

Strictly speaking, equation (ii) only applies to laminar flows. It can however be used with
good approximation if there is only slight eddying.

Stroke’s equation

For highly viscous fluids (high η), such as oil at low temperatures, the throughput in a
capillary would be so slow that the viscosity η could not practically be determined. In
such cases an effective and simple alternative method is to measure the time of fall by
gravity of a sphere in the fluid of interest. The forces acting on the sphere is shown in Fig.
5.5. The force of gravity FG and the buoyancy FA are respectively:

4
FG = mg= πr3 ρKg
3

4
FA= π r 3 ρ F lg
3

where ρK is the mass density and r the radius of the sphere and ρFl the density of the
fluid. For the drag force FR, we have for laminar flow the frictional law of Stoke:

FR = 6πηrv

where

η = viscosity of the fluid

r = radius of the fluid

v = terminal velocity of the sphere

The frictional force FR is proportional to the velocity and thus for some velocity, the
terminal velocity, a stationary condition is reached with constant velocity (see appendix).
The forces acting on the sphere balances each other according to the relation:

4
πr3(ρK − ρFl)g − 6πηrv = 0
3

If the mass density ρ and the radius of sphere R are known, the viscosity η may be
determined from a measured value of the terminal velocity.

2 r 2 g ( ρ K −ρ Fl)
η=
9v

Procedure
i. Pour water into measuring cylinder.
ii. Set stopwatch to zero.
 iii. Drop ball Ø=5mm into measuring cylinder and start stopwatch.
iv. Measure drop time t for distance s.
v. Use magnet to remove ball.

Table of Observations and Calculations

All readings and calculations are to be tabulated as follows:

For Glycerin

Sr. No Distance T1 T2 t 1+t 2 s F=6 πηrv 2f

x= v= c=
(s) 2 t As r 2

i.

ii.

iii.

For Cooking Oil

Sr. No Distance T1 T2 t 1+t 2 s F=6 πηrv 2f

x= v= c=
(s) 2 t As r 2

i.

ii.

iii.
Calculation
Conclusion