FaIISphere.

doc - 1 - GFW 07/03/00

SchooI of Science and TechnoIogy
Food Science Laboratory
Falling sphere viscometer
Aim
To determine the reIationship between viscosity and concentration for sucrose soIutions
Procedure
1. Make up sucrose soIutions containing 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% sucrose by weight
according to tabIe 1 beIow.
2. FiII the viscometer with 40mI water at ambient temperature. Time the sphere faIIing
between the two marks. Make a totaI of five timings. Take the average time for the
sphere to faII.
3. Empty the viscometers, rinse out with a smaII quantity of sucrose soIution and fiII the
viscometer with 40 mI sucrose soIution.
4. Repeat the procedure making five timings for each sucrose soIution. Take the average
time for each sucrose soIution.
5. Empty and rinse the viscometers thoroughIy with distiIIed water.
Theory
The faIIing sphere viscometer depends on Stokes Iaw. The Stokes Iaw equation for terminaI
veIocity of a faIIing sphere in a Iiquid is given by

L
L S
S
g r
v
K
U U

9
2
2
Where: K
L
Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)
U
Density (kg m
-3
)
v terminaI veIocity (m s
-1
)
r radius of the sphere (m)
SubscriptsL & S represent Iiquid and soIid (sphere) respectiveIy.
For a sphere faIIing through distance l (m) in time t (s), the viscosity may be caIcuIated.

l
t g r
L S
L
9
2
2
U U
K
Stokes Iaw strictIy onIy appIies for a freeIy faIIing sphere. The sphere in the faIIing sphere
viscometer is a cIose fit in the tube so there wiII be edge effects which wiII affect the terminaI
veIocity. In such cases a viscometer constant, K is defined. This is an empiricaI constant which
FaIISphere.doc - 2 - GFW 07/03/00
incorporates the viscometer parameters and the edge effect takes into account edge effects and
simpIifies the Stokes Iaw equation.
Hence
t K
L S L
U U K
Effect of concentration on viscosity
Increasing the concentration of a soIution normaIIy resuIts in an increase in viscosity. There are
three possibIe modeIs for concentration effects of viscosity;
a. Linear model. bC a K
b. Power law model.
b
aC K
c. Exponential model.
bC
ae K
In each case, C represents concentration and a & b are constants.
The Iinear modeI gives a straight Iine reIationship between viscosity and concentration, the
power Iaw gives a straight Iine for Iog viscosity against Iog concentration and the exponentiaI
modeI gives a straight Iine for In viscosity against concentration.
Treatment of results
1. CaIcuIate the viscosity for the various sucrose soIutions.
2. Estimate the errors in your raw data and processed data using appropriate methods.
3. Show that graphs of Iog viscosity vs Iog concentration and In viscosity vs concentration
wiII give straight Iine reIationships for the power Iaw and exponentiaI modeIs
respectiveIy. What are the sIope and intercept in each case?
4. PIot graphs of a) viscosity vs concentration, b) Iog viscosity vs Iog concentration,
c) In viscosity vs concentration.
5. Carry out Ieast squares regression for each of the three variabIes and using a
combination of significance IeveIs, R
2
vaIues and residuaI pIots determine the
reIationship which best describes the reIationship between viscosity and concentration of
sucrose soIutions.
Viscometer Data
K 6.40 u 10
-4
m
2
s
-2
(This vaIue wiII give viscosity in mPa s)
U
S
2200 kg m
-3
Table 1. Data for sucrose solutions
Concentration/ % wt. 5 10 20 30 40
Sucrose added to 100 mI water /g 5 11 25 43 67
Density/ kg m
-3
1023 1037 1080 1127 1176
Reference
HoIdsworth, S D. (1993), Rheological Models used for the Prediction of Flow Properties of
Foodstuffs, Trans IChemE (Food and Bioproducts Processing), 71C, 139-179