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Viscosity
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Theviscosityofafluidisameasureofitsresistanceto
gradualdeformationbyshearstressortensilestress.For
liquids,itcorrespondstotheinformalconceptof
"thickness".Forexample,honeyhasamuchhigher
viscositythanwater.[1]

Viscosity

Viscosityisapropertyarisingfromcollisionsbetween
neighboringparticlesinafluidthataremovingat
differentvelocities.Whenthefluidisforcedthrougha
tube,theparticleswhichcomprisethefluidgenerally
movemorequicklynearthetube'saxisandmoreslowly
nearitswalls:thereforesomestress,(suchasapressure
differencebetweenthetwoendsofthetube),isneededto
overcomethefrictionbetweenparticlelayersandkeep
thefluidmoving.Forthesamevelocitypattern,thestress
requiredisproportionaltothefluid'sviscosity.
Afluidthathasnoresistancetoshearstressisknownas
anidealfluidorinviscidfluid.Zeroviscosityis
observedonlyatverylowtemperatures,insuperfluids.
Otherwise,allfluidshavepositiveviscosity,andare
technicallysaidtobeviscousorviscid.Incommon
parlance,however,aliquidissaidtobeviscousifits
viscosityissubstantiallygreaterthanwater's,andmaybe
describedasmobileiftheviscosityisnoticeablyless
thanwater's.Iftheviscosityisveryhigh,forinstancein
pitch,thefluidwillappeartobeasolidintheshortterm.

Contents

Asimulationofsubstanceswithdifferent
viscosities.Thesubstanceabovehaslower
viscositythanthesubstancebelow

1Etymology

Commonsymbols

2Definition

SIunit

Pas=kg/(sm)

Derivationsfrom
otherquantities

=Gt

2.1Dynamic(shear)viscosity
2.2Kinematicviscosity
2.3Bulkviscosity
2.4Viscositytensor
3NewtonianandnonNewtonianfluids
4Viscosityinsolids
5Viscositymeasurement
6Units
6.1Dynamicviscosity
6.2Kinematicviscosity
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6.3Fluidity
6.4Nonstandardunits
7Molecularorigins
7.1Gases
7.1.1Relationtomeanfreepathof
diffusingparticles
7.1.2Effectoftemperatureonthe
viscosityofagas
7.1.3Viscosityofadilutegas
7.2Liquids
7.2.1Viscosityofblendsofliquids
8Viscosityofselectedsubstances
8.1Air
8.2Water
8.3Othersubstances
9Viscosityofslurry
10Viscosityofamorphousmaterials
11Eddyviscosity
12Seealso
13References
14Furtherreading
15Externallinks

Etymology
Theword"viscosity"isderivedfromtheLatin"viscum",meaningmistletoeandalsoaviscousglue
(birdlime)madefrommistletoeberriesandappliedtotwigstocatchbirds.[2]

Definition
Dynamic(shear)viscosity
Thedynamic(shear)viscosityofafluidexpressesitsresistancetoshearingflows,whereadjacent
layersmoveparalleltoeachotherwithdifferentspeeds.Itcanbedefinedthroughtheidealizedsituation
knownasaCouetteflow,wherealayeroffluidistrappedbetweentwohorizontalplates,onefixedand
onemovinghorizontallyatconstantspeed .(Theplatesareassumedtobeverylarge,sothatoneneed
notconsiderwhathappensneartheiredges.)
Ifthespeedofthetopplateissmallenough,thefluidparticleswillmoveparalleltoit,andtheirspeed
willvarylinearlyfromzeroatthebottomto atthetop.Eachlayeroffluidwillmovefasterthanthe
onejustbelowit,andfrictionbetweenthemwillgiverisetoaforceresistingtheirrelativemotion.In
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particular,thefluidwillapplyonthetopplateaforceinthedirectionoppositetoitsmotion,andan
equalbutoppositeonetothebottomplate.Anexternalforceisthereforerequiredinordertokeepthe
topplatemovingatconstantspeed.
Themagnitude ofthisforceisfoundtobeproportionaltothespeed andthearea ofeachplate,
andinverselyproportionaltotheirseparation :

Theproportionalityfactorinthisformulaisthe
viscosity(specifically,thedynamicviscosity)of
thefluid.
Theratio
iscalledtherateofshear
deformationorshearvelocity,andisthe
derivativeofthefluidspeedinthedirection
perpendiculartotheplates.IsaacNewton
expressedtheviscousforcesbythedifferential
equation

where
and
isthelocalshear
velocity.Thisformulaassumesthattheflowis
movingalongparallellinesandthe axis,
perpendiculartotheflow,pointsinthedirection
ofmaximumshearvelocity.Thisequationcanbe
usedwherethevelocitydoesnotvarylinearly
with ,suchasinfluidflowingthroughapipe.

Laminarshearoffluidbetweentwoplates.Friction
betweenthefluidandthemovingboundariescausesthe
fluidtoshear.Theforcerequiredforthisactionisa
measureofthefluid'sviscosity.

UseoftheGreeklettermu()forthedynamic
stressviscosityiscommonamongmechanical
andchemicalengineers,aswellas
physicists.[3][4][5]However,theGreeklettereta
()isalsousedbychemists,physicists,andthe
IUPAC.[6]

Kinematicviscosity
Thekinematicviscosityistheratioofthe
dynamicviscositytothedensityofthefluid.
ItisusuallydenotedbytheGreekletternu().

Itisaconvenientconceptwhenanalyzingthe
Reynoldsnumber,thatexpressestheratioofthe
inertialforcestotheviscousforces:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity

Inageneralparallelflow(suchascouldoccurina
straightpipe),theshearstressisproportionaltothe
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where isatypicallengthscaleinthesystem.

Bulkviscosity
Whenacompressiblefluidiscompressedorexpandedevenly,withoutshear,itmaystillexhibitaform
ofinternalfrictionthatresistsitsflow.Theseforcesarerelatedtotherateofcompressionorexpansion
byafactor,calledthevolumeviscosity,bulkviscosityorsecondviscosity.
Thebulkviscosityisimportantonlywhenthefluidisbeingrapidlycompressedorexpanded,suchasin
soundandshockwaves.Bulkviscosityexplainsthelossofenergyinthosewaves,asdescribedby
Stokes'lawofsoundattenuation.

Viscositytensor
Ingeneral,thestresseswithinaflowcanbeattributedpartlytothedeformationofthematerialfrom
somereststate(elasticstress),andpartlytotherateofchangeofthedeformationovertime(viscous
stress).Inafluid,bydefinition,theelasticstressincludesonlythehydrostaticpressure.
Inverygeneralterms,thefluid'sviscosityistherelationbetweenthestrainrateandtheviscousstress.In
theNewtonianfluidmodel,therelationshipisbydefinitionalinearmap,describedbyaviscositytensor
that,multipliedbythestrainratetensor(whichisthegradientoftheflow'svelocity),givestheviscous
stresstensor.
Theviscositytensorhasnineindependentdegreesoffreedomingeneral.ForisotropicNewtonianfluids,
thesecanbereducedtotwoindependentparameters.Themostusualdecompositionyieldsthestress
viscosityandthebulkviscosity.

NewtonianandnonNewtonianfluids
Newton'slawofviscosityisaconstitutiveequation(likeHooke'slaw,Fick'slaw,Ohm'slaw):itisnota
fundamentallawofnaturebutanapproximationthatholdsinsomematerialsandfailsinothers.
AfluidthatbehavesaccordingtoNewton'slaw,withaviscositythatisindependentofthestress,is
saidtobeNewtonian.Gases,waterandmanycommonliquidscanbeconsideredNewtonianinordinary
conditionsandcontexts.TherearemanynonNewtonianfluidsthatsignificantlydeviatefromthatlawin
somewayorother.Forexample:
Shearthickeningliquids,whoseviscosityincreaseswiththerateofshearstrain.
Shearthinningliquids,whoseviscositydecreaseswiththerateofshearstrain.
Thixotropicliquids,thatbecomelessviscousovertimewhenshaken,agitated,orotherwise
stressed.
Rheopecticliquids,thatbecomemoreviscousovertimewhenshaken,agitated,orotherwise
stressed.
Binghamplasticsthatbehaveasasolidatlowstressesbutflowsasaviscousfluidathighstresses.
Shearthinningliquidsareverycommonly,butmisleadingly,describedasthixotropic.
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EvenforaNewtonianfluid,theviscosityusually
dependsonitscompositionandtemperature.For
gasesandothercompressiblefluids,itdepends
ontemperatureandvariesveryslowlywith
pressure.
Theviscosityofsomefluidsmaydependonother
factors.Amagnetorheologicalfluid,forexample,
becomesthickerwhensubjectedtoamagnetic
field,possiblytothepointofbehavinglikea
solid.

Viscosityinsolids
Theviscousforcesthatariseduringfluidflow
mustnotbeconfusedwiththeelasticforcesthat
ariseinasolidinresponsetoshear,compression
orextensionstresses.Whileinthelatterthestress
Viscosity,theslopeofeachline,variesamong
isproportionaltotheamountofshear
materials
deformation,inafluiditisproportionaltothe
rateofdeformationovertime.(Forthisreason,
Maxwellusedthetermfugitiveelasticityforfluidviscosity.)
However,manyliquids(includingwater)willbrieflyreactlikeelasticsolidswhensubjectedtosudden
stress.Conversely,many"solids"(evengranite)willflowlikeliquids,albeitveryslowly,evenunder
arbitrarilysmallstress.[7]Suchmaterialsarethereforebestdescribedaspossessingbothelasticity
(reactiontodeformation)andviscosity(reactiontorateofdeformation)thatis,beingviscoelastic.
Indeed,someauthorshaveclaimedthatamorphoussolids,suchasglassandmanypolymers,areactually
liquidswithaveryhighviscosity(e.g.~greaterthan1012Pas).[8]However,otherauthorsdisputethis
hypothesis,claiminginsteadthatthereissomethresholdforthestress,belowwhichmostsolidswillnot
flowatall,[9]andthatallegedinstancesofglassflowinwindowpanesofoldbuildingsareduetothe
crudemanufacturingprocessofoldererasratherthantotheviscosityofglass.[10]
Viscoelasticsolidsmayexhibitbothshearviscosityandbulkviscosity.Theextensionalviscosityisa
linearcombinationoftheshearandbulkviscositiesthatdescribesthereactionofasolidelasticmaterial
toelongation.Itiswidelyusedforcharacterizingpolymers.
Ingeology,earthmaterialsthatexhibitviscousdeformationatleastthreetimesgreaterthantheirelastic
deformationaresometimescalledrheids.[11]

Viscositymeasurement
Viscosityismeasuredwithvarioustypesofviscometersandrheometers.Arheometerisusedforthose
fluidsthatcannotbedefinedbyasinglevalueofviscosityandthereforerequiremoreparameterstobe
setandmeasuredthanisthecaseforaviscometer.Closetemperaturecontrolofthefluidisessentialto
acquireaccuratemeasurements,particularlyinmaterialslikelubricants,whoseviscositycandoublewith
achangeofonly5C.

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Forsomefluids,viscosityisaconstantoverawiderangeofshearrates(Newtonianfluids).Thefluids
withoutaconstantviscosity(nonNewtonianfluids)cannotbedescribedbyasinglenumber.Non
Newtonianfluidsexhibitavarietyofdifferentcorrelationsbetweenshearstressandshearrate.
Oneofthemostcommoninstrumentsformeasuringkinematicviscosityistheglasscapillary
viscometer.
Incoatingindustries,viscositymaybemeasuredwithacupinwhichtheeffluxtimeismeasured.There
areseveralsortsofcupe.g.Zahncup,Fordviscositycupwithusageofeachtypevaryingmainly
accordingtotheindustry.Theeffluxtimecanalsobeconvertedtokinematicviscosities(centistokes,
cSt)throughtheconversionequations.[12]
Alsousedincoatings,aStormerviscometerusesloadbasedrotationinordertodetermineviscosity.
TheviscosityisreportedinKrebsunits(KU),whichareuniquetoStormerviscometers.
Vibratingviscometerscanalsobeusedtomeasureviscosity.ThesemodelssuchastheDynatroluse
vibrationratherthanrotationtomeasureviscosity.
Extensionalviscositycanbemeasuredwithvariousrheometersthatapplyextensionalstress.
Volumeviscositycanbemeasuredwithanacousticrheometer.
Apparentviscosityisacalculationderivedfromtestsperformedondrillingfluidusedinoilorgaswell
development.Thesecalculationsandtestshelpengineersdevelopandmaintainthepropertiesofthe
drillingfluidtothespecificationsrequired.

Units
Dynamicviscosity
TheSIphysicalunitofdynamicviscosityisthepascalsecond(Pas),(equivalentto(Ns)/m2,or
kg/(ms)).IfafluidwithaviscosityofonePasisplacedbetweentwoplates,andoneplateispushed
sidewayswithashearstressofonepascal,itmovesadistanceequaltothethicknessofthelayer
betweentheplatesinonesecond.Waterat20Chasaviscosityof0.001002Pas,whileatypicalmotor
oilcouldhaveaviscosityofabout0.250Pas.[13]
Thecgsphysicalunitfordynamicviscosityisthepoise[14](P),namedafterJeanLonardMarie
Poiseuille.Itismorecommonlyexpressed,particularlyinASTMstandards,ascentipoise(cP).Waterat
20Chasaviscosityof1.0020cP.
1P=0.1Pas,
1cP=1mPas=0.001Pas=0.001Nsm2=0.001kgm1s1.

Kinematicviscosity
TheSIunitofkinematicviscosityism2/s.
Thecgsphysicalunitforkinematicviscosityisthestokes(St),namedafterGeorgeGabrielStokes.Itis
sometimesexpressedintermsofcentistokes(cSt).InU.S.usage,stokeissometimesusedasthesingular
form.
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1St=1cm2s1=104m2s1.
1cSt=1mm2s1=106m2s1.
Waterat20Chasakinematicviscosityofabout1cSt.
Thekinematicviscosityissometimesreferredtoasdiffusivityofmomentum,becauseitisanalogousto
diffusivityofheatanddiffusivityofmass.Itisthereforeusedindimensionlessnumberswhichcompare
theratioofthediffusivities.

Fluidity
Thereciprocalofviscosityisfluidity,usuallysymbolizedby=1/orF=1/,dependingonthe
conventionused,measuredinreciprocalpoise(cmsg1),sometimescalledtherhe.Fluidityisseldom
usedinengineeringpractice.
Theconceptoffluiditycanbeusedtodeterminetheviscosityofanidealsolution.Fortwocomponents
and ,thefluiditywhenaandbaremixedis
,
whichisonlyslightlysimplerthantheequivalentequationintermsofviscosity:

whereaandbisthemolefractionofcomponentaandbrespectively,andaandbarethe
components'pureviscosities.

Nonstandardunits
TheReynisaBritishunitofdynamicviscosity.
Viscosityindexisameasureforthechangeofkinematicviscositywithtemperature.Itisusedto
characteriselubricatingoilintheautomotiveindustry.
AtonetimethepetroleumindustryreliedonmeasuringkinematicviscositybymeansoftheSaybolt
viscometer,andexpressingkinematicviscosityinunitsofSayboltUniversalSeconds(SUS).[15]Other
abbreviationssuchasSSU(SayboltSecondsUniversal)orSUV(SayboltUniversalViscosity)are
sometimesused.KinematicviscosityincentistokecanbeconvertedfromSUSaccordingtothe
arithmeticandthereferencetableprovidedinASTMD2161.[16]

Molecularorigins
Theviscosityofasystemisdeterminedbyhowmoleculesconstitutingthesysteminteract.Thereareno
simplebutcorrectexpressionsfortheviscosityofafluid.ThesimplestexactexpressionsaretheGreen
KuborelationsforthelinearshearviscosityortheTransientTimeCorrelationFunctionexpressions
derivedbyEvansandMorrissin1985.[18]Althoughtheseexpressionsareeachexact,inorderto
calculatetheviscosityofadensefluidusingtheserelationscurrentlyrequirestheuseofmolecular
dynamicscomputersimulations.
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Gases
Viscosityingasesarisesprincipallyfromthemoleculardiffusionthattransportsmomentumbetween
layersofflow.Thekinetictheoryofgasesallowsaccuratepredictionofthebehaviorofgaseous
viscosity.
Withintheregimewherethetheoryisapplicable:
Viscosityisindependentofpressureand
Viscosityincreasesastemperatureincreases.[19]
JamesClerkMaxwellpublishedafamouspaperin1866using
thekinetictheoryofgasestostudygaseousviscosity.[20]To
understandwhytheviscosityisindependentofpressure,consider
twoadjacentboundarylayers(AandB)movingwithrespectto
eachother.Theinternalfriction(theviscosity)ofthegasis
determinedbytheprobabilityaparticleoflayerAenterslayerB
withacorrespondingtransferofmomentum.Maxwell's
calculationsshowthattheviscositycoefficientisproportionalto
thedensity,themeanfreepath,andthemeanvelocityofthe
atoms.Ontheotherhand,themeanfreepathisinversely
proportionaltothedensity.Soanincreaseindensityduetoan
increaseinpressuredoesn'tresultinanychangeinviscosity.
Relationtomeanfreepathofdiffusingparticles

Pitchhasaviscosityapproximately
230billion(2.3 1011)timesthatof

Inrelationtodiffusion,thekinematicviscosityprovidesabetter
water. [17]
understandingofthebehaviorofmasstransportofadilute
species.Viscosityisrelatedtoshearstressandtherateofshear
inafluid,whichillustratesitsdependenceonthemeanfreepath,,ofthediffusingparticles.
Fromfluidmechanics,foraNewtonianfluid,theshearstress,,onaunitareamovingparalleltoitself,
isfoundtobeproportionaltotherateofchangeofvelocitywithdistanceperpendiculartotheunitarea:

foraunitareaparalleltothexzplane,movingalongthexaxis.Wewillderivethisformulaandshow
howisrelatedto.
Interpretingshearstressasthetimerateofchangeofmomentum,p,perunitareaA(rateofmomentum
flux)ofanarbitrarycontrolsurfacegives

where
istheaveragevelocity,alongthexaxis,offluidmoleculeshittingtheunitarea,withrespect
totheunitarea.
Furthermanipulationwillshow[21]
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,assumingthatmoleculeshittingtheunitareacomefromalldistancesbetween
0and(equallydistributed),andthattheiraveragevelocitieschangelinearlywithdistance
(alwaystrueforsmallenough).Fromthisfollows:

where
istherateoffluidmasshittingthesurface,
isthedensityofthefluid,
istheaveragemolecularspeed(

),

isthedynamicviscosity.
Effectoftemperatureontheviscosityofagas
Sutherland'sformulacanbeusedtoderivethedynamicviscosityofanidealgasasafunctionofthe
temperature:[22]

Thisinturnisequalto
where

isaconstantforthegas.

inSutherland'sformula:
=dynamicviscosity(PasorPas)atinputtemperatureT,
0=referenceviscosity(inthesameunitsas)atreferencetemperatureT0,
T=inputtemperature(kelvin),
T0=referencetemperature(kelvin),
C=Sutherland'sconstantforthegaseousmaterialinquestion.
Validfortemperaturesbetween0<T<555Kwithanerrorduetopressurelessthan10%below3.45
MPa.
AccordingtoSutherland'sformula,iftheabsolutetemperatureislessthanC,therelativechangein
viscosityforasmallchangeintemperatureisgreaterthantherelativechangeintheabsolute
temperature,butitissmallerwhenTisaboveC.Thekinematicviscositythoughalwaysincreasesfaster
thanthetemperature(thatis,dlog()/dlog(T)isgreaterthan1).
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Sutherland'sconstant,referencevaluesandvaluesforsomegases:
C

T0

[K]

[K]

[Pas]

[PasK1/2]

air

120

291.15 18.27

1.512041288

nitrogen

111

300.55 17.81

1.406732195

oxygen

127

292.25 20.18

1.693411300

carbondioxide

240

293.15 14.8

1.572085931

carbonmonoxide 118

288.15 17.2

1.428193225

hydrogen

72

293.85 8.76

0.636236562

ammonia

370

293.15 9.82

1.297443379

sulfurdioxide

416

293.65 12.54

1.768466086

helium

79.4[23] 273

Gas

19[24]

1.484381490

Viscosityofadilutegas
TheChapmanEnskogequation[25]maybeusedtoestimateviscosityforadilutegas.Thisequationis
basedonasemitheoreticalassumptionbyChapmanandEnskog.Theequationrequiresthree
empiricallydeterminedparameters:thecollisiondiameter(),themaximumenergyofattractiondivided
bytheBoltzmannconstant(/)andthecollisionintegral((T*)).

with
T*=T/reducedtemperature(dimensionless),
0=viscosityfordilutegas(Pa.s),
M=molecularmass(g/mol),
T=temperature(K),
=thecollisiondiameter(),
/=themaximumenergyofattractiondividedbytheBoltzmannconstant(K),
=thecollisionintegral.

Liquids
Inliquids,theadditionalforcesbetweenmoleculesbecomeimportant.Thisleadstoanadditional
contributiontotheshearstressthoughtheexactmechanicsofthisarestillcontroversial.Thus,inliquids:
Viscosityisindependentofpressure(exceptatveryhighpressure)and
Viscositytendstofallastemperatureincreases(forexample,waterviscositygoesfrom1.79cPto
0.28cPinthetemperaturerangefrom0Cto100C)seetemperaturedependenceofliquid
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viscosityformoredetails.
Thedynamicviscositiesofliquidsaretypicallyseveralordersofmagnitudehigherthandynamic
viscositiesofgases.
Viscosityofblendsofliquids
Theviscosityoftheblendoftwoormoreliquidscanbe
estimatedusingtheRefutasequation.[26]Thecalculationis
carriedoutinthreesteps.
ThefirststepistocalculatetheViscosityBlendingNumber
(VBN)(alsocalledtheViscosityBlendingIndex)ofeach
componentoftheblend:
(1)

whereisthekinematicviscosityincentistokes(cSt).Itis
importantthatthekinematicviscosityofeachcomponentofthe
blendbeobtainedatthesametemperature.
ThenextstepistocalculatetheVBNoftheblend,usingthis
equation:
(2)

Videoshowingthreeliquidswith
differentViscosities

wherexXisthemassfractionofeachcomponentoftheblend.
Oncetheviscosityblendingnumberofablendhasbeencalculatedusingequation(2),thefinalstepisto
determinethekinematicviscosityoftheblendbysolvingequation(1)for:
(3)

whereVBNBlendistheviscosityblendingnumberoftheblend.

Viscosityofselectedsubstances
Air
Theviscosityofairdependsmostlyonthetemperature.At15C,theviscosityofairis1.81 105
kg/(ms),18.1Pa.sor1.81 105Pa.s.Thekinematicviscosityat15Cis1.48 105m2/sor14.8
cSt.At25C,theviscosityis18.6Pa.sandthekinematicviscosity15.7cSt.Onecangettheviscosity
ofairasafunctionoftemperaturefromtheGasViscosityCalculator
(http://www.lmnoeng.com/Flow/GasViscosity.htm)

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Water
Thedynamicviscosityofwateris8.90104Pasor8.90103dyns/cm2or0.890cPatabout25C.
Waterhasaviscosityof0.0091poiseat25C,or1centipoiseat20C.
AsafunctionoftemperatureT(K):(Pas)=A10B/(TC)
whereA=2.414105PasB=247.8KandC=140K.
Viscosityofliquidwateratdifferenttemperaturesuptothe
normalboilingpointislistedbelow.
Temperature

Viscosity

[C]

[mPas]

10

1.308

20

1.002

30

0.7978

40

0.6531

50

0.5471

60

0.4658

70

0.4044

80

0.3550

90

0.3150

100

0.2822

Pressuredependenceofthedynamic
viscosityofdryairatthe
temperaturesof300,400and500K

Othersubstances
SomedynamicviscositiesofNewtonianfluidsarelistedbelow:
Viscosityofselectedgasesat100kPa,[Pas]
Gas
at0C(273K)
at27C(300K)[27]
air

17.4

18.6

hydrogen

8.4

9.0

helium

20.0

argon

22.9

xenon

21.2

23.2

carbondioxide

15.0

methane

11.2

ethane

9.5

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Viscosityoffluidswithvariablecompositions
Viscosity
Viscosity
Fluid

[Pas]

[cP]

blood(37C)[8]

(34) 103 34

honey

210

2,00010,000

molasses

510

5,00010,000

moltenglass

101,000

10,0001,000,000

chocolatesyrup

1025

10,00025,000

moltenchocolate* 45130[28]

45,000130,000

ketchup*

50100

50,000100,000

lard

100

100,000

peanutbutter*

250

250,000

shortening*

250

250,000

Exampleoftheviscosityofmilkand
water.Liquidswithhigherviscosities
makesmallersplasheswhenpouredat
thesamevelocity.

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Viscosityofliquids
(at25Cunlessotherwisespecified)
Viscosity
Viscosity
Liquid:

[Pas]

[cP=mPas]

acetone[27]

3.06 104 0.306

benzene[27]

6.04 104 0.604

castoroil[27]

0.985

985

cornsyrup[27]

1.3806

1,380.6

ethanol[27]

1.074 103 1.074

ethyleneglycol

1.61 102 16.1

glycerol(at20C)[24]

1.2

1,200

HFO380

2.022

2,022

mercury[27]

1.526 103 1.526

methanol[27]

5.44 104 0.544

motoroilSAE10(20C)[19] 0.065

65

motoroilSAE40(20C)[19] 0.319

319

nitrobenzene[27]

1.863 103 1.863

liquidnitrogen@77K

1.58 104 0.158

propanal[27]

1.945 103 1.945

oliveoil

0.081

81

pitch

2.3 108

2.3 1011

sulfuricacid[27]

2.42 102 24.2

water

8.94 104 0.894

Honeybeingdrizzled.

Viscosityofsolids
Viscosity
Temperature
Solid

[Pas]

asthenosphere[29] 7 1019

[K]
900C

uppermantle[29] (0.71.0) 1021 13003000C

lowermantle

(1.02.0)

1021

30004000C

Peanutbutterisasemisolidandcan
thereforeholdpeaks.

*ThesematerialsarehighlynonNewtonian.
Note:Higherviscositymeansthickersubstance

Viscosityofslurry
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Thetermslurrydescribesmixturesofaliquidand
solidparticlesthatretainsomefluidity.Theviscosity
ofslurrycanbedescribedasrelativetotheviscosity
oftheliquidphase:

wheresandlarerespectivelythedynamic
viscosityoftheslurryandliquid(Pas),andristhe
relativeviscosity(dimensionless).
Dependingonthesizeandconcentrationofthesolid
particles,severalmodelsexistthatdescribethe
relativeviscosityasafunctionofvolumefraction
ofsolidparticles.

Plotofslurryrelativeviscosityrascalculatedby
empiricalcorrelationsfromEinstein, [30]Guthand
Simha, [31]Thomas, [32]andKitanoetal.. [33]

Inthecaseofextremelylowconcentrationsoffine
particles,Einstein'sequation[30]maybeused:

Inthecaseofhigherconcentrations,amodifiedequationwasproposedbyGuthandSimha,[31]which
takesintoaccountinteractionbetweenthesolidparticles:

FurthermodificationofthisequationwasproposedbyThomas[32]fromthefittingofempiricaldata:

whereA=0.00273andB=16.6.
Inthecaseofhighshearstress(above1kPa),anotherempiricalequationwasproposedbyKitanoetal.
forpolymermelts:[33]

whereA=0.68forsmoothsphericalparticles.

Viscosityofamorphousmaterials
Viscousflowinamorphousmaterials(e.g.inglassesandmelts)[35][36][37]isathermallyactivated
process:

whereQisactivationenergy,Tistemperature,RisthemolargasconstantandAisapproximatelya
constant.
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TheviscousflowinamorphousmaterialsischaracterizedbyadeviationfromtheArrheniustype
behavior:QchangesfromahighvalueQHatlowtemperatures(intheglassystate)toalowvalueQLat
hightemperatures(intheliquidstate).Dependingonthischange,amorphousmaterialsareclassifiedas
either
strongwhen:QHQL<QLor
fragilewhen:QHQLQL.
Thefragilityofamorphousmaterialsisnumerically
characterizedbytheDoremusfragilityratio:

andstrongmaterialhaveRD<2whereasfragile
materialshaveRD2.
Theviscosityofamorphousmaterialsisquite
exactlydescribedbyatwoexponentialequation:

Commonglassviscositycurves. [34]

Commonlogofviscosityvs
temperatureforB2O3,showingtwo
regimes

withconstantsA1,A2,B,CandDrelatedtothermodynamicparametersofjoiningbondsofan
amorphousmaterial.
Notveryfarfromtheglasstransitiontemperature,Tg,thisequationcanbeapproximatedbyaVogel
FulcherTammann(VFT)equation.
Ifthetemperatureissignificantlylowerthantheglasstransitiontemperature,TTg,thenthetwo
exponentialequationsimplifiestoanArrheniustypeequation:

with:

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whereHdistheenthalpyofformationofbrokenbonds(termedconfiguron
(http://www.wikidoc.org/index.php/Configuron)s)andHmistheenthalpyoftheirmotion.Whenthe
temperatureislessthantheglasstransitiontemperature,T<Tg,theactivationenergyofviscosityishigh
becausetheamorphousmaterialsareintheglassystateandmostoftheirjoiningbondsareintact.
Ifthetemperatureishighlyabovetheglasstransitiontemperature,TTg,thetwoexponential
equationalsosimplifiestoanArrheniustypeequation:

with:

Whenthetemperatureishigherthantheglasstransitiontemperature,T>Tg,theactivationenergyof
viscosityislowbecauseamorphousmaterialsaremeltedandhavemostoftheirjoiningbondsbroken,
whichfacilitatesflow.

Eddyviscosity
Inthestudyofturbulenceinfluids,acommonpracticalstrategyforcalculationistoignorethesmall
scalevortices(oreddies)inthemotionandtocalculatealargescalemotionwithaneddyviscositythat
characterizesthetransportanddissipationofenergyinthesmallerscaleflow(seelargeeddy
simulation).Valuesofeddyviscosityusedinmodelingoceancirculationmaybefrom5104to106Pas
dependingupontheresolutionofthenumericalgrid.

Seealso
Deborahnumber
Dilatant
HerschelBulkleyfluid
Hyperviscositysyndrome
Intrinsicviscosity
Inviscidflow
Mortonnumber
Relativeviscosity
Reyn
Reynoldsnumber
Trouton'sratio
Twodimensionalpointvortexgas
Viscoelasticity
Viscosityindex
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Jobackmethod(estimationoftheliquidviscosityfrommolecularstructure)
Microviscosity
Rheology
Superfluidhelium4
Stokesflow

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37. ^Ojovan,M.I.Travis,K.P.andHand,R.J.(2000)."Thermodynamicparametersofbondsinglassy
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Bibcode:2007JPCM...19O5107O(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007JPCM...19O5107O).doi:10.1088/0953
8984/19/41/415107(http://dx.doi.org/10.1088%2F09538984%2F19%2F41%2F415107).

Furtherreading
Hatschek,Emil(1928).TheViscosityofLiquids.NewYork:VanNostrand.OCLC53438464
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53438464).
Massey,B.S.WardSmith,A.J.(2011).MechanicsofFluids
(http://science.fire.ustc.edu.cn/download/job.php?job=download&id=141&did=0)(Ninthed.).
LondonNewYork:SponPress.ISBN9780415602594.OCLC690084654
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/690084654).

Externallinks
Fluidproperties(http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/fluid/)
Highaccuracycalculationofviscosityandotherphysical
propertiesoffrequentusedpureliquidsandgases.

Lookupviscosityin
Wiktionary,thefree
dictionary.

Gasviscositycalculatorasfunctionoftemperature
(http://www.enggcyclopedia.com/calculators/physicalproperties/gasviscosity/)
Airviscositycalculatorasfunctionoftemperatureandpressure
(http://www.enggcyclopedia.com/calculators/physicalproperties/airviscositycalculator/)
FluidCharacteristicsChart(http://www.engineersedge.com/fluid_flow/fluid_data.htm)Atableof
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viscositiesandvaporpressuresforvariousfluids
GasDynamicsToolbox(http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~alexeenk/GDT/index.html)Calculate
coefficientofviscosityformixturesofgases
GlassViscosityMeasurement(http://glassproperties.com/viscosity/ViscosityMeasurement.htm)
Viscositymeasurement,viscosityunitsandfixpoints,glassviscositycalculation
KinematicViscosity
(http://www.diracdelta.co.uk/science/source/k/i/kinematic%20viscosity/source.html)conversion
betweenkinematicanddynamicviscosity.
PhysicalCharacteristicsofWater(http://www.thermexcel.com/english/tables/eau_atm.htm)A
tableofwaterviscosityasafunctionoftemperature
VogelTammannFulcherEquationParameters(http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0953
8984/12/46/305)
Calculationoftemperaturedependentdynamicviscositiesforsomecommoncomponents
(http://ddbonline.ddbst.de/VogelCalculation/VogelCalculationCGI.exe)
"TestProceduresforTestingHighwayandNonroadEnginesandOmnibusTechnical
Amendments"(http://www.epa.gov/EPAAIR/2005/July/Day13/a11534d.htm).UnitedStates
EnvironmentalProtectionAgency
Artificialviscosity
(http://www.astro.uu.se/~bf/course/numhd_course/2_5_2Artificial_viscosity.html)
Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viscosity&oldid=639603338"
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