COURSE: Thermodynamics I

Class: Second 2016 - 2017

Name of Experiment: FLUID PROPERTIES; DENSITY
Submitted by: Muhammad Akram
Experiment No: 1
Date of experiment: 25 /10/2016
Date of submission: 2 /11/2016
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EVALUATION
Activity During Experiment & Procedure
Data & Results
Discussion, Conclusion & Answer to the Questions

Neat and tidy report writing

Overall Mark

Name of evaluator:

Object

The object of this fluid property experiment was to determine the density of
a fluid and use this determined density to calculate the fluids surface
tension.
Theory
The density of a fluid is defined as its mass per unit volume and is a function
of pressure and temperature. If a fluid undergoes thermal expansion, its
molecules will be distributed more widely and will therefore be less dense.
There will be fewer molecules, thus less mass, per a given unit of volume.
Likewise, if a fluid experiences thermal contraction due to cooling, the
kinetic energy of the molecules in the fluid will be a lesser value and they
will be packed closer together. In this case, the fluid will have a higher mass
per unit volume, therefore a higher density than the former case. = m/V
(Equation 1)
Pressure likewise affects the density of a fluid. Consider a fluid with a free
surface exposed to the atmosphere. If the pressure on the surface of the fluid
were to increase, the density of the fluid would increase due to being
compressed. The converse of this scenario is also true: a decrease in the
pressure on the free surface of the fluid would decrease its density. The
density of a fluid can be obtained through various means. One method to
determine a fluids density is to weigh a known volume and divide its mass
by the volume. To perform this type of analysis, weigh a fluid vessel such as
graduated beaker with and without the known volume of fluid as seen in
Equation 2 below. Simply divide the determined mass by the volume as in
Equation 1 to obtain the fluids density. m laden beaker m unladed beaker
= m fluid (Equation 2)
Another method to determine a fluids density is to calculate the buoyant
force it exerts on a suspended object and divide this force by the known
volume of the fluid. Use a hanging scale to suspend an object and record its
apparent weight. Then, weigh the mass again, this time submerged in a
known volume of fluid. Calculate the buoyant force by calculating the
difference between these two values as seen in Equation 3. Divide the
buoyant force by the volume the object displaced to determine the density
(Equation 4). Buoyant Force = Weight dry Weight submerged =B/V
(Equation 4) (Equation 3)
The last method for measuring density to be considered in this report
involves the use of a hydrometer cylinder. A hydrometer is an instrument
used to measure the specific gravity of a fluid, usually with a reference to
pure water at room temperature. This 1

means that the specific gravity of a fluid is the ratio of the mass of a liquid to
the mass of an equal volume of pure water. To calculate the density of a fluid
with this instrument, suspend the hydrometer bulb end down in a cylinder
filled with fluid and wait for it to come to a rest. It is important that the
hydrometer does not touch the sides of the cylinder so that the fluids other
properties do not interfere with the reading. On the length of the hydrometer
there are printed calibration marks. The value that is at the meniscus of the
fluid should be recorded and is denoted as s. To calculate the density from
this unitless value, multiply the hydrometer reading by the known density of
water in the unit system of choice (1000 kg/m3 for SI and 62.4 lbm/ft3 for
BG), as seen in Equation 5. = s * Volume of Water (Equation 5)
Another important fluid property to be considered in this experiment is
surface tension. The surface tension is defined as the measure of cohesive
energy present at the interface of the fluid, or the amount of work required to
extend the surface of a liquid. The units for surface tension are a force per
unit length. = F/L (Equation 6)
The fluid molecules beneath an interface experience a larger net
intermolecular attractive force. A molecule beneath the surface experiences
attractive forces on all sides, thus experiencing a net force of zero and
residing in a lower energy state. The fluid molecules at the surface, having
no neighbors above them, are subjected to the attractive force of the
molecules beneath them and are pulled inward towards the bulk of the fluid.
This inward force causes the fluid to contract to a minimal area. This
property explains why free falling fluids tend to take a spherical shape: a
sphere has the lowest ratio of surface area to volume than any other three
dimensional shape. A method of obtaining the surface tension of a fluid is to
employ a surface tension meter. This device will measure the amount of
energy per unit area requires to increase the surface area of a fluid. It does
this by putting a wire inside the device under torsion, which in turn will raise
a ring suspended in the fluid to and through the surface. Once it has broken
free, the machine will stop recording and the displayed value is the apparent
surface tension. The diagram below shows the general setup for a surface
tension meter.

Procedure

Part I: Determining the Density of a Fluid Equipment:

Graduated Cylinder 250 mL
Graduated Beaker Suave
Hydrometer Cylinder
Fact Scale (SN: CV3279)
1)Weigh the empty graduated beaker on a scale and record the mass.
2) Remove the beaker from the scale and measure an exact volume of 5 mL
of Suave Ocean Breeze shampoo into the beaker.
3) Weigh the laden beaker on the scale again and record the mass.
4) Determine the difference in the masses as per Equation 2 and record this
mass. This value is the mass of the fluid
5) Divide the mass of the fluid by the volume measured into the beaker as
per Equation 3 and record this value. This will yield the density of the fluid.
Method Two: 1) Suspend the crystal hanging mass from a harness attached
directly to the plate of the and record the crystals apparent weight. 2) Fill a
graduated beaker with an exact amount of 150 mL Suave Ocean Breeze
shampoo and record this volume on a data sheet. 3) Remove the crystal
hanging mass from the harness on the plate of the scale. Place the fluid filled
beaker onto a riser over the plate so the weight of the fluid and beaker are
neglected. Hang the crystal mass from the harness again, this time
submerging the crystal completely in the fluid as seen in Figure 2 below.
Record the weight of the mass as is it submerged in the fluid.
Figure 2: Schematic of hanging mass submerged in the known volume of
fluid.
4) Before removing the hanging mass from the fluid, record the volume of
fluid the hanging mass displaced inside the beaker.
5) Determine the buoyant force exerted by the fluid on the hanging mass by
subtracting the submerged weight from the non-submerged weight as per
Equation 3 and record this value.
6) Divide the buoyant force by buoyant force calculated in Step 5 by the
volume determined in Step 4 to determine the fluids density, as per
Equation 4. Method Three: 1) Select a hydrometer cylinder via an educated
guess of the supposed density of the fluid. 2) Fill a graduated cylinder with
an arbitrary amount of Suave Ocean Breeze shampoo. The particular volume
for this part of the experiment is inconsequential as long as there is enough
to submerge the hydrometer to obtain an accurate reading. 3) Insert the
hydrometer into the shampoo filled cylinder as close to the center as
possible. If the hydrometer sticks to the walls of the cylinder, it will yield an
inaccurate specific gravity for the fluid. 4) Once the hydrometer has
stabilized and is no longer bobbing in the fluid, take a reading of the specific
gravity on the neck of the hydrometer at the meniscus of the fluid as seen in
Figure 3 and record this value.

Part II: Determining the Surface Tension of Fluid Equipment: Fisher

Scientific Tensiomat Model 21 (SN: 84858) Platinum-Iridium Ring Small
Beaker Suave Ocean Breeze Shampoo
1) Fill a small beaker with an arbitrary amount of Suave Ocean Breeze
shampoo. The amount is inconsequential as long as there is enough fluid for
the platinum iridium ring to be inserted into the beaker beneath the free
surface and not touch the bottom.
2) Insert the platinum-iridium ring beneath the surface of the fluid at an
angle so as to not disturb the surface too much. Any breakage of the surface
will skew the results of the surface tension meter.
3) Place the beaker with ring onto the movable table of the Tensiomat and
affix the ring to the balance rod of the device.
4) Level the balance rod of the Tensiomat through careful movements of the
tension knob on the right side of the device. Zero out the reading dial on the
front of the machine.
5) Flip the up/down switch on the front of the Tensiomat to the up position.
The device will put the internal wire of the machine throught torsion and lift
the ring to and through the surface of the fluid.
6) Once the ring has broken the surface of the fluid, the machine will
disengage. The dial on the front of the Tensiomat will display the amount of
force per unit length required to break the surface of the fluid in dynes per
centimeter. This value is the apparent surface tension of the fluid.
7) Remove the ring from the beaker and administer a small amount of fluid
to restore the surface. Repeat Steps 2 through 6 three more times and record
the results.
8) To obtain the actual surface tension of the fluid, assess the correction
factor by evaluating Equation 7 using the density acquired in Part 1 of this
experiment and the r/R value for the platinum-iridium ring. Multiply this
value by the apparent surface tension as per Equation 8 to obtain the actual
surface tension of the fluid.

Discussion & Conclusion

The results for the density measurement portion of the experiment are not all
the same value. However, they are in agreement with one another because
they are not spread too far apart. If, for instance, one method for calculating
the density of the shampoo yielded a value that was different by a factor of
two, there would be cause for concern regarding the accuracy of the method.
Because the calculated values for all three methods fall within a small range,
it can be concluded that these values are in agreement. The apparent buoyant
force in method two for density measurement would vary with respect to
depth. Assuming the fluid is incompressible and the object submerged in the
fluid is also incompressible, the actual buoyant force would remain constant
no matter to what depth the object is submerged. Because of the method
employed in this experiment, where the buoyant force is determined by the
difference in apparent weight dry and submerged, the buoyant force acting
on the crystal would vary. This variance is the result of the pressure the
column of fluid exerts on the submerged object. At an increasing depth of
the object, there will be more fluid in the column above and therefore an
increase in the objects apparent weight. The result of this discrepancy is a
decrease in the buoyant force with an increase in depth. The most accurate
result for the density of the Suave Ocean Breeze shampoo was determined
by the hydrometer cylinder method. The hydrometer is a specially calibrated
instrument with the purpose of measuring the specific gravity of a fluid.
Because only one measurement from the device is required to determine the
specific gravity of a fluid, it tends to produce a more accurate result for the
density. The values are very near one other. Each method employed to obtain
the density of the Suave Ocean Breeze shampoo yielded results that were
consistent with one another. Therefore, it can be concluded that these results
are precise. Although they are consistent, these results cannot be considered
to be accurate. The true value for the density of the fluid may be more or less
than the results this experiment calculated. The mean, or average value, of
the density results is 1019 kg/m3. This value is obtained by dividing the sum
of all the calculated densities by the number of methods employed. The
mean value of the densities is most likely closer to the true value of the
density of Suave Ocean Breeze Shampoo. Mean The standard deviation of
the density results is 11.65 kg/m3. This value is obtained by taking the
square root of the quotient of the sum of the densities, less the mean, squared
and divided by the number of methods minus one