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11
VISCOSITY
MEASUREMENT
Principles of Viscosity & Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Viscosity SI Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Dynamic, Absolute, or Simple Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Kinematic Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Common Viscosity Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Other Viscosity Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Measuring Viscosity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Hagen-Poiseuilles Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Stokes Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Values of Viscometer Constants A and B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Viscosity Conversion Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Poise to lb-force sec/ft2 Conversion Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
lb-force sec/ft2 to Pa-sec Conversion Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

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Principles of Viscosity & Definitions

Viscosity is a quantity describing a fluids resistance to flow. Fluids
resist the relative motion of immersed objects through them as well as
to the motion of layers with differing velocities within them.
Formally, viscosity (represented by the symbol ) is the ratio of the
shearing stress (F/A) to the velocity gradient (vx/z or dvx/dz) in a fluid.
F v x
=

A z

or

F dv
= x
A dz

The more usual form of this relationship is called Newtons equation.

It states the resulting shear of a fluid is directly proportional to the force
applied and inversely proportional to its viscosity. Note the similarity to
Newtons second law of motion (F = ma).
F
v x
A = z

v
F =m

or

dv
F
= x
A
dz

dv
F =m

dt

Viscosity SI Units
According to NISTs Guide for the International System of Units (SI), the
proper SI units for expressing values of viscosity (also called
dynamic viscosity) and values of kinematic viscosity are, respectively,
the Pascal second (Pas) and the meter squared per second (m2/s) (and
their decimal multiples and submultiples as appropriate).
The Pascal second [Pas] has no special name. And, although touted as
an international system, the International System of Units (SI) has had
very little international impact. The Pascal second is rarely used in scientific and technical publications today.
The most common unit of viscosity is the dyne second per square
centimeter (dyne s/cm2), which is given the name poise (P) after the
French physiologist Jean Louis Poiseuille (1799-1869). Ten poise equal
one Pascal second (Pas) making the centipoise (cP) and millipascal
second (mPas) identical.

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1 Pascal second = 10 poise = 1,000 millipascal second

1 centipoise = 1 millipascal second
English/Metric Viscosity Units
Quantity

English

Metric

Viscosity

Poise

Pa/sec

Kinematic
Viscosity

Stroke

m2/sec

There are actually two quantities called viscosity. The quantity defined
above usually is just called viscosity. However, it sometimes is also
called dynamic viscosity, absolute viscosity, or simple viscosity to distinguish it from the other quantity.
Dynamic, Absolute, or Simple Viscosity
Va = At

B
t

where
Va = dynamic, absolute, or simple viscosity
A = a viscometer constant
B = a viscometer constant
t = time for a volume of fluid to pass through an aperture
Kinematic Viscosity
The other quantity, called kinematic viscosity (represented by the symbol ), is the ratio of the viscosity of a fluid to its density.
v =

Kinematic viscosity is a measure of the resistive flow of a fluid under

the influence of gravity. It is frequently measured by a capillary
viscometer basically a graduated can with a narrow tube at the bottom. When two fluids of equal volume are placed in identical capillary
viscometers and allowed to flow under the influence of gravity, a
viscous fluid takes longer than a less viscous fluid to flow through the
tube.

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Kv =

303

V
D

where
Kv = kinematic viscosity
V = viscosity of fluid
D = density of fluid
The SI unit of kinematic viscosity is the square meter per second (m2/s),
which also has no special name. This unit is so large it is rarely used. A
more common unit of kinematic viscosity is the square centimeter per
second (cm2/s), which has been given the name stoke [St] after the English scientist George Stoke. Since this unit is also large, the more commonly used unit is the square millimeter per second (mm2/s) or centistoke (cSt).
According to NISTs Guide for the International System of Units (SI), the
CGS units commonly used to express values of these quantities, the
poise (P) and the stokes (St), respectively [and their decimal submultiples the centipoise (cP) and the centistoke (cSt)], are not to be used.
However, since CGS units are, in fact, the most widely used terms, they
are included in this ISA Handbook.
Common Viscosity Units
1 m2/s = 10,000 cm2/s (stoke) = 1,000,000 mm2/s (centistokes)
1 cm2/s = 1 stoke
1 mm2/s = 1 centistoke
1 Poise = 1 dyne sec/cm2
1 Poise = 0.1 Pa sec
1 Centipoise = 0.001 Pa/sec
1 Centipoise = 1 cm2/sec
1 cP = viscosity of water at 68C
1 lb-force sec/ft2 = 1 slug/ft sec

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Other Viscosity Equations

S
V = s
Sr

where
V = viscosity of a fluid
Ss = shear stress, force per area
Sr = shear rate, velocity per layer thickness
Ratio of Shear Stress to Shear Rate, Hagen-Poiseuille Law
V =

Pd R 4
8QL

where
V = viscosity
Pd = pressure differential of liquid
R = inside radius of tube
Q = rate of liquid flow
L = length of tube
Apparent Viscosity (Consistency)
C=

Ad
Ws

where
C = consistency, percent
Ad = dry-weight of solid
Ws = weight of solid plus liquid

x 100

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Measuring Viscosity
Hagen-Poiseuilles Law
French physician and physiologist Jean Poiseuille, while developing an
improved method for measuring blood pressure, formulated a mathematical expression for the flow rate for the laminar (nonturbulent) flow
of fluids in circular tubes. Discovered independently by Gotthilf Hagen,
a German hydraulic engineer, this relation is also known as the HagenPoiseuille equation, or Hagen-Poiseuille Law.
For laminar, non-pulsatile fluid flow through a uniform straight pipe, the
flow rate (volume per unit time) is:
directly proportional to the pressure difference between the
ends of the tube,
inversely proportional to the length of the tube,
inversely proportional to the viscosity of the fluid, and
proportional to the fourth power of the radius of the tube.

Pr 4
8 

Stokes Law
George Gabriel Stokes, an Irish-born mathematician who spent much of
his life working with fluid properties, is most famous for his work
describing the motion of a sphere through viscous fluids. This led to the
development of Stokess Law an equation that shows the force
needed to move a small sphere through a continuous, quiescent fluid at
a certain velocity. It is based primarily on the radius of the sphere
and the viscosity of the fluid. He found what has become known as
Stokes Law:
The drag force on a sphere of radius (R) moving through a fluid of viscosity at speed Vc is given by:
F (drag) = 6R Vc

Where
R = the radius of the sphere
= the viscosity
Vc = the velocity through a continuous fluid
The faster a sphere falls through a fluid, the lower the viscosity. The
measurement involves dropping a sphere through a measured
distance of fluid and measuring how long it takes to traverse the distance.

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Since you know distance and time, you also know velocity, which is distance/time. A formula for determining the viscosity in this manner is:
viscosity = =

2(p)ga2
9v

Where
p = difference in density between the sphere and the liquid
g = acceleration of gravity
a = radius of sphere
v = velocity = d/t = (Distance sphere falls/time it takes to fall)
Values of Viscometer Constants A and B
Viscometer

Constant A

Constant B

Time of Efflux

Saybolt Universal

0.226
0.220

195
135

32-100
over 100

Saybolt Furol

2.24

184

25-40

Redwood #1

0.260
0.247

179
50

34-100
over 100

Redwood #2

2.46
2.45

100
-

32-90
over 90

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Viscosity Conversion Table

To Convert from

To

Multiply by:

Centipoise

Pascal/sec

0.001

Centistroke

m2/sec

0.000001

cm3/sec

ft3/min

0.00211888

cm3/sec

liter/hr

3.6

ft3/hr

cm3/sec

7.865791

ft3/hr

liter/min

0.4719474

ft3/min

cm3/sec

471.9474

ft3/sec

cm3/hr

101.9406

ft3/sec

liter/min

1699.011

in3/min

cm3/sec

0.2731177

Dyne-sec/cm2

Poise

1.0

Geepound

Slug

1.0

Gram-force

Dyne

980.665

kilogram-force

Dyne

0.0000980665

liter/sec

ft3/hr

127.1328

liter/sec

ft3/min

2.11888

liter/sec

gallon/hr

951.0194

part per million

mg/kg

1.0

part per million

ml/cm3

1.0

Poise

Dyne-sec/cm2

1.0

Poise

gram/cm-sec

1.0

Poise

Pascal-sec

0.1

lb-force-sec/ft2

Pascal-sec

47.8803

lb-force-sec/in2

Pascal-sec

6894.76

Slug

kg

14.5939

307

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Conversion Table, Poise to lb-force sec/ft2

Poise

lb-force sec/ft2

Poise

lb-force sec/ft2

478.80

800

383,040

957.60

900

430,920

1436.40

1000

478,800

1915.20

2000

957,600

2394.00

3000

1,436,400

2872.80

4000

1,915,200

3351.60

5000

2,394,000

3830.40

6000

2,872,800

4309.20

7000

3,351,600

10

4788.00

8000

3,830,400

20

9576.00

9000

4,309,200

30

14,364.00

10,000

4,788,000

40

19,152.00

20,000

9,576,000

50

23,940.00

30,000

14,364,000

60

28,728.00

40,000

19,152,000

70

33,516.00

50,000

23,940,000

80

38,304.00

60,000

28,728,000

90

43,092.00

70,000

33,516,000

100

47,880.00

80,000

38,304,000

200

95,760.00

90,000

43,092,000

300

143,640.00

100,000

47,880,000

400

191,520.00

110,000

52,668,000

500

239,400.00

120,000

57,456,000

600

287,280.00

130,000

62,244,000

700

335,160.00

140,000

67,032,000

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Conversion Table, lb-force sec/ft2 to Pa-sec

lb-force sec/ft2

Pa/sec

lb-force sec/ft2

Pa/sec

100

4788.03

600,000

28,728,180

200

9576.06

700,000

33,516,210

300

14,364.09

800,000

38,304,240

400

19,152.12

900,000

43,092,270

500

23,940.15

1,000,000

47,880,300

600

28,728.18

2,000,000

95,760,600

700

33,516.21

3,000,000

143,640,900

800

38,304.24

4,000,000

191,521,200

900

43,092.27

5,000,000

239,401,500

1000

47,880.30

6,000,000

287,281,800

2000

95,760.60

7,000,000

335,162,100

3000

143,640.90

8,000,000

383,042,400

4000

191,521.20

9,000,000

430,922,700

5000

239,401.50

10,000,000

478,803,000

6000

287,281.80

20,000,000

957,606,000

7000

335,162.10

30,000,000

1,436,409,000

8000

383,042.40

40,000,000

1,915,212,000

9000

430,922.70

50,000,000

2,394,015,000

10,000

4,788,030.00

60,000,000

2,872,818,000

20,000

9,576,060.00

70,000,000

3,351,621,000

30,000

14,364,090.00

80,000,000

3,830,424,000

40,000

19,152,120.00

90,000,000

4,309,227,000

50,000

23,940,150.00

100,000,000

4,788,030,000