The relationship between the time of flow of a liquid in an Ostwald viscometer is directly

proportional to the liquids viscosity which can be deduced from Poiseuilles equation. To prove
this statement, the time of flow of distilled water is tested for five trials with different temperatures.
The result of the experiment was recorded in table _ and plotted the average of the three trials in
figure_

Table_

Temp () Time (s)

1 2 3
9 92.17 91.05 90.37
24 82.29 83.47 83.18
35 72 72.58 73.06
43 67.47 69.19 69.77
58 62.25 65.81 68.7

Figure _

Time of Flow Vs. Temperature

100
90
80
70
60 Time of Flow Vs.
50 Temperature
y = -0.5551x + 94.986
40 R = 0.9438 Linear (Time of Flow
30 Vs. Temperature)
20
10
0
0 20 40 60 80

Viscosity defined mathematically is the proportion of the shearing stress to the velocity

gradient of a fluid: (Basumatary). Thus it can be said that high shear stress
means high viscosity. Shear stress, according to CSC scientific is the force per unit area
required to move one layer of fluid in relation to another. Now different liquids have different
viscosities and one reason is because of their molecular structures. The closer or stronger the
bonding of these molecules is, the harder for them to move one layer over another. And of course
liquids differ in molecular structure.
 There are also factors that contribute to the change in movement of these molecules and
one example is a liquids temperature. The molecules of a liquid become more mobile as a result
of increase in kinetic or thermal energy in a high temperature state. It will also reduce the
cohesive forces within these molecules (e.g. Van der Waals). Thus, an increase in temperature of
a liquid will cause it to flow more freely than before which means reducing its viscosity.
However, this is not true for all fluids. Gases tend to be more viscous as their temperature rises.
It is because unlike in liquids, the molecules of gases do not have cohesive forces within
(Robertson, 2016). Figure_ showed the result of the exercise concerning the viscosity of distilled
water with varying temperature. The value of R2 is 0.9438 and is close to 1. It can therefore be
concluded that the time of flow decreases as temperature increases and thus, an increase in
temperature results to a decrease in viscosity (time of flow is directly proportional to viscosity).

Viscosity is one of the most important properties of a liquid in fluid mechanics. It

determines the needed amount of energy for a fluid to flow (CSC Scientific). By knowing the
viscosity of a liquid, a manufacturer, for example, will know what kind of equipment (heavy or
not) to be used for a certain type of fluid in the manufacturing process. Now taking an example
in a mans daily life, a toothpaste tube must have a certain opening radius that will account for
the toothpastes viscosity. It must not be too difficult to pump the fluid out nor pump out too
much. It can be said that viscosity is a property that is worthy to/must take into account for.

Works Cited
Basumatary, T. (n.d.). Slideshare.net. Retrieved February 11, 2017, from Slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/TenisonBasumatary/viscosity-measurement-using-ostwald-
viscometer

CSC Scientific. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2017, from CSC Scientific:
http://www.cscscientific.com/viscosity

Robertson, J. (2016, June 28). Quora. Retrieved February 11, 2017, from Quora:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-relationship-between-viscosity-and-temperature