ENGR3160Laboratory6:ViscosityandReynoldsNumber

LabDate:March20,2015
ReportDue:April3,2015

Group5A
LeadWriter:BenMorris
KathrynYoungblood
GabriellePierre

Introduction

Theviscosityofafluidisthatpropertyofthefluidthatresistsshearstress.Thereare
severalmethodsthatcanbeusedtodeterminetheviscosityofafluid.Inthislab,afewofthese
methodswereusedtodeterminetheviscosityofcornsyrupanddishwashingliquid.Inaddition,
theReynoldsnumberwasbrieflystudied.TheReynoldsnumbercanbeusedtodetermineifa
flowislaminarorturbulent.Althoughthereisnodefinedlinebetweenlaminarandturbulent
flow,alowReynoldsnumberindicatesamorelaminarflow,whileahighReynoldsnumber
indicatesamoreturbulentflow.
Thefirstandmostdirectmethodofmeasuringviscositythatwasperformedinthislab
wasthroughtheuseofaBrookfieldviscometer.Thisdeviceconsistsofametalcylindrical
spindlethatisheldbetweentwostripsofmetal.Thespindleisconnectedtoamotorwhichexerts
atorqueonthespindle.Bymeasuringthetorqueonthespindleandtheangularvelocityofthe
spindle,theviscosityofthefluidisderivedbythecomputerinsidethedevice.Usingthe
Brookfieldviscometer,theviscosityofthecornsyrupandthedishwashingliquidwasmeasured.
Forthesecondpartoftheexperiment,ametalballbearingwasdroppedintoa1000ml
beakerfilledwithcornsyrupordishwashingliquid.Thediameterandmassofthebearingwas
given.Usingthediameterofthebearing,thevolumeofthebearingcouldbecalculated.The
massandthevolumewereusedtocalculatethedensityoftheball.Asmallsampleofeachliquid
wasgatheredintwo10mlgraduatedcylinders,andeachsamplewasmassed.Byusingthe
measuredmassesandthevolumereadingsfromthecylinders,thedensityofeachliquidcouldbe
derived.Usingthegiven,derived,andexperimentaldata,thedynamicviscositywasderived
usingStokesequation(Eq.1.)

gDs2( )
cal = 18Us s f
Eq.1.StokesEquation

Where Ds isthediameteroftheballbearing, s and f arethedensitiesofthebearingandthe

fluid,respectively,and U s isthevelocityofthespherethroughthefluid.Eq.1isvalidfor
Reynoldsnumberslessthan1.0.TheReynoldsnumberisdeterminedbyEq.2.

U sDs
Re = f
Eq.2.ReynoldsNumber

Stokesequationisalsoonlyvalidforfluidsofinfiniteextent.Becausethefluidbeingstudiedis
offiniteextent,acorrectionmustbemadeusingBrennersequation(Eq.3.)

U s = (1 + 2.105 DDsc + 1.95DHs )U m

Eq.3.CorrectionForFiniteExtent

Where Dc isthecylinderdiameter, H istheheightoftheliquidinthecylinder,and U m isthe

measuredvelocityinthefluid.
InpartCoftheexperiment,theReynoldsnumberforflowinaCouettecellwas
calculated.BypouringaliquidintoaCouettecell,injectingdyesintothefluid,androtatingthe
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innercylinderataconstantangularvelocityforasetnumberofrevolutionsclockwiseandthen
counterclockwise,itcanbedeterminedwhethertheflowislaminarorturbulent.Inlaminarflow,
thelinesofdyeintheliquidwillreturntotheiroriginalconfiguration.Inturbulentflow,thedyes
willmix,anditbecomesimpossibletoreturnthedyetoitsoriginalconfiguration.TheReynolds
numberfortheflowwasthencalculatedusingEq.4.

v d
Re = f1f
Eq.4.Reynoldsnumber

Where f isthedensityofthefluid, v1 isthesurfacevelocityofthecylinder, d isthedistance

betweentheinnerandoutercylinders,and f isthedynamicviscosityofthefluid.Allvalues
mustbeinstandardSIunits(kg,m,s).Bymeasuringtheangularvelocityoftheinnercylinder,
thegeometryofthesystem(theradiiofthetwocylinders),andthedensityandviscosityofthe
fluidsfrompartsoneandtwo,theReynoldsnumberwascalculated.TheReynoldsnumbercould
beusedtopredicthowturbulenttheflowwouldbe.

MaterialsandMethods

ForpartA,abeakerwasfilledwithdishwashingliquidandpositionedbelowthespindle
oftheviscometer.Thespindlewasthenloweredintotheliquid,andthemachinewasturnedon.
Aspindlespeedof60rpmwaschosen,andthespindlewasallowedtospinforfiverevolutions.
Theviscosityofthefluidwasrecordedfromthescreenontheviscometer,andthetemperatureof
theliquidwasrecordedusingathermometer.Thedataforcornsyrupwascollectedbyother
groupsinasimilarway,andtheirdatawasshared.
ForpartB,aballbearingof.25inchdiameterand1.029grammasswasdroppedintoa
tall,1000mlbeakerfilledwithdishwashingliquid.Theballwasallowedtoreachterminal
velocityinthefluid,andthenastopwatchwasusedtomeasurethetimeittookfortheballtofall
20cm.Usingthedistanceandtimemeasurements,thevelocityoftheballwascalculated,and
usingthemassandvolumeoftheball,thedensityoftheballwascalculated.A10mlgraduated
cylinderwasplacedonascale,andthescalewastared.Asampleofthedishwashingliquidwas
thencollectedinthecylinder,andtheexactvolumeofthesamplewasrecorded.Theliquidand
thecylinderwasthenplacedonthescale,andthemassoftheliquidwasrecorded.Fromthe
volumeandmassdata,thedensityoftheliquidwascalculated.Then,usingStokesequation
(Eq.1),theviscosityofthefluidwascalculated.Othergroupsperformedasimilarexperiment
usingcornsyrup,andtheirdatawasshared.
ForpartC,dishwashingliquidandcornsyrupwereeachpouredintoaseparateCouette
cell.Twocolorsofdyewereinjectedintoeachcell.Theinnercylindersofeachcellwerethen
rotatedforfiverevolutionsclockwiseandthenfiverevolutionscounterclockwiseatonethird
rps.Theprocesswasthenrepeatedwithanangularvelocityoftworps.Observationswere
recordedforeachtrialandforeachcell.TheReynoldsnumberforeachflowwasthencalculated
usingEq.4.Oncetheobservationsandcalculationshadbeenperformed,thecorrelationbetween
theReynoldsnumberandtheturbulenceoftheflowwasdiscussed.

ResultsandAnalysis

InPartA,theviscositiesofthecornsyrupanddishwashingliquidsamplesweremeasuredusing
theBrookfieldViscometer.Theresultsofwhichareshownbelow.

LiquidAssigned:Dishwashingliquid
Temperature:21.5C
Spindlespeed:6RPM
Min.timerequiredtotakereadings:50seconds
Viscosityoftheliquid:971cP
%Torque:97%

Liquidwhosepropertiesareborrowedfromanothergroup:CornSyrup
GroupNumber:A2
Temperatureofliquid:22.0C
Spindlespeed:0.6RPM
Min.timerequiredtotakethereadings:8.33minutes
Viscosityoftheliquid:5980cP
%Torque:59.8%

InPartB,theviscositiesofthecornsyrupanddishwashingliquidwerecalculatedusingtheball
dropexperimentandthreesteelbearings.Theresultsofwhichareshownbelow.

Table1.Physicalcharacteristicsoftheballbearing
Diameterof
sphere
(cm)

Volumeof
3
Sphere(cm
)

Massof
Sphere(g)

3
Density(g/cm
)

Density
3
(kg/m
)

0.5

0.0654

1.029

15.72

15720

Table2.CornSyrupFallVelocity
CornSyrup
FallDistance(cm)

Falltime(s)

Fall
Velocity(cm/s)

20

10.56

1.89

20

11.21

1.78

20

11.65

1.72

AverageFallVelocity(U
):1.80cm/s
m
3


Table3.DishwashingLiquidFallVelocity
DishwashingLiquid
FallDistance(cm)

Falltime(s)

Fallvelocity
(cm/s)

20

1.53

13.07

20

1.63

12.27

20

1.62

12.35

AverageFallVelocity(U
):12.6cm/s
m

Then,thedensitiesoftheliquidswerecalculated:

Volumeofcornsyrup:7.62ml
Massofcornsyrup:10.62g
3
3
Densityofcornsyrup(kg/m
):1390kg/m
Volumeofdishwashingliquid:10ml
Massofdishwashingliquid:10.18g
3
Densityofdishwashingliquid:1020kg/m

Then,thecorrectedaveragefallvelocitywascalculatedusingBrennersequation,theviscosity
wascalculatedfromexperimentaldataandStokesequation,andtheReynoldsnumbercalculated
fromthepreviouscalculatedviscosity.

Table4.BrennersEquationCorrectedFallVelocity
CorrectedFallVelocityUsingBrenner'sEquation
CORNSYRUP:

2.246

cm/s

DISHWASHING
LIQUID:

15.62

cm/s

Table5.StokesEquationViscosity
ViscosityCalculatedUsingExperimentalDataandStokesEquation
CORNSYRUP:

8.69

Ns/m2

DISHWASHINGLIQUID: 1.28

Ns/m2
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Table6.ReynoldsNumberfortheballdropexperiment
ReynoldsNumberForBallDropExperiment
CORNSYRUP:

0.018012

DISHWASHINGLIQUID:

0.619948

InpartC,theflowofthecornsyrupandthedishwashingliquidwereobservedatdifferent
speedsusingaCouettecellandsomedyes.Theobservationsareshownbelow.

Table7.FlowObservations

DishwashingLiquid

CornSyrup

1rotation
per3
seconds

Irreversiblemixingturbulent

Reversiblemixing
laminar

2rotations
per1
second

Irreversiblemixingturbulent

Reversiblemixing
laminar

Finally,theReynoldsnumberbasedonthesurfacevelocityoftheinnercylinderwascalculated.

Table8.ReynoldsnumberfortheCouettecellapparatus

ReynoldsNumber

DishwashingLiquid

CornSyrup

1rotation
per3
seconds

2.086

0.4637

2rotations
per1
second

12.52

2.782


Discussion

Thepurposeofthislabwastoutilizeanddemonstrateavarietyofmethodsfor
calculatingtheviscosityandReynoldsnumberofaliquidspecifictothisexperiment,these
calculationsweredoneusingcornsyrupanddishwashingliquid.Themoreaccurateofthe
methods,aBrookfieldViscometer,wasfirstusedtofindthevelocity.Thismachineusingtorque
requiredtorotateaspindleintheliquidtocalculateviscosityhowever,thesecomplex
calculationsaredoneinternally,andthemachinedirectlydisplaystheviscosityofthegiven
liquid.Thusthereisverylittlehumanerrorassociatedwiththismethodthesourcesoferrorare
allintheinternalmechanismsoftheviscometer,whichisingeneralfairlyaccurate.
Thesecondmethodofcalculatingviscosityinvolvedusingthevelocityofaballdropped
intotheliquidandtheStokesequation.Asthisexperimentreliesmuchmoreheavilyonhuman
measurements,thesourcesofpotentialerrorareplentiful.FortheStokesexperimenttobevalid,
thefalldistanceandtimecanonlybecalculatedaftertheballbearingreachesterminalvelocity,
whichwassomewhatarbitrarilyjudgedvisuallyintheexperiment.Inaddition,thereisagreat
dealofvariabilityandalackofprecisioninthemeasurementsoftimeanddistancetakenbythe
experimenters.Intheprecisecalculationsrequiredtocalculateviscosity,evensmallerrorsin
measurementcancausesignificanterrorintheresults.Itisthereforelikelythatsuchsourcesof
errorleadtothediscrepanciesseenbetweenviscosityasmeasuredbytheBrookfieldViscometer
andascalculatedusingourexperimentalballdropdata.
InpartCoftheexperiment,thefocusturnedtotheturbulenceofflowarelatedtothe
Reynoldsnumberofaliquid.Regardlessofthevelocitywithwhichtheinnercylinderofthe
Coulettecellwasturned,therewerevisibledifferencesintheflowpatternsbetweencornsyrup
anddishwashingliquid.Incornsyrup,whenthedirectionoftheflowwasreversed,thelinesof
foodcoloringreturnedalmostexactlytotheiroriginalverticalpositions,anexampleoflaminar
flow.Thisphenomenonwasnotobservedindishwashingliquid,wherethefoodcoloringwas
mixedandscatteredintotheliquid.WhileReynoldsnumbersdochangewithvelocity,the
ReynoldsnumberforcornsyrupwascomparativelysignificantlylowerthantheReynolds
numberfordishwashingliquid.ThisleadsustobelievethatlowerReynoldsnumbersaremore
likelytocorrespondwithlaminarflow.

Conclusion

Thisexperimentservedtodemonstratevariousmethodsofcalculatingvelocityofa
liquid.Asexpected,theexperimentalmethodofcalculatingvelocitydifferssignificantlyfrom
viscosityascalcultedbytheBrookfieldViscometer,inlargepartduetotheplentifulsourcesof
measurementerrorpresentintheexperimentalmethod.Theexperimentalsoexaminesthe
conceptofaReynoldsnumberinregardstoturbulenceofaflowingliquid.Inbothour
experimentalcalculationsinPartBandourcalculationsinPartC,wefoundcornsyruptohavea
significantlylowerReynoldsnumberthandishwashingliquid,thoughReynoldsnumbersare
variablewithvelocity.Cornsyrupalsodemonstrateslaminarflow,unlikedishwashingsoap.
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ThusitislikelythelowReynoldsnumbersareassociatedwithlessturbulenceintheflowofa
liquid.