 Aim:

 To determine the coefficient of vescocity of water by

poiseuille’s method.

 Apparatus Required:

 (1) Test liquids, such as water, a mixture of water and glycerol in 1:1
mass ratio, and a aqueous polymer solution of polyethylene oxide at

0.5% in mass. A small volume of a milliliter suffices for several

experiments.

 (2) Tiny stainless steel balls, which are commercially available as ball
bearings in various sizes with high precision. The diameter of the

balls for this lab is d=0.508 mm (or 0.0200 inch). The density of the

steel is g/ml.

 (3) Glass capillary tubes, which are commonly supplied for volume

measurements in biological laboratories and are purchased in cartons

of 250, from Fisher Scientific or VWR International. The ones used

for this lab have an inner diameter of 1.3 mm, each with a mark for

taking 100 µl liquids

 (4) a 5 or 10 ml plastic syringe and rubber tubing of

approximately 2 mm inner diameter, to be mounted to the syringe

opening on one end and the capillary on the other. This simple

assembly acts as a capillary pipette.

 (5) Clay, such as plumber’s putty, for sealing the ends of the

capillary.

 (6) Home-made plastic racks with multiple grooves to conveniently

hold the capillaries (item B in Figure 2).

 (7) Stop watch, and a small magnet to help manipulate the ball

inside the capillary.

 Formula used:

 The coefficient of viscosity η of a liquid is given by

πΔPr4
η=
8qmℓ

Where, r= radius of capillary of tube,

Q= volume of water collected per second,

l= length of the capillary tube,

ΔP= density in liquid,

n= difference in level of nanometer.

 Theory:

When a solid sphere is moving in a liquid, a viscous drag force f will

be exerted on the sphere. According to Stokes’ law, the drag force

is proportional to the viscosity of the fluid η , the radius r of the

sphere, and the velocity (or speed) v of the sphere as:
f = 6π ηr v (1)
 A steel ball is dropped into a fluid sample so that the gravitational

force on the ball, mg, is larger than the buoyant force . The net

driving force F on the ball is:

F=mg-Fb=4/3πr3(pb-p1)g (2)

where pb and p1 are the densities of the ball and the liquid,

respectively.

When F=f, the ball stops accelerating and falls with a constant speed

v f , which is called the terminal speed.

Equating the right side of eq. 1 and the right side of eq. 2 yields the

terminal speed.

v = 2/9 *{πr^2g( ρ - σ)}/η (3)

where,

v = terminal velocity

r = radius of spherical body

g = acceleration due to gravity

ρ = density of spherical body

σ = density of liquid

η = coefficient of viscosity

From eq. 3 a final expression for viscosity is obtained as follows:

η =d^ 2(pb-p1)gT/18L (4)

where d is the diameter of the ball, g is gravitational acceleration, and

T is the time for the ball to drop distance L with the recording started

after it has reached the terminal velocity.

Eq. 4 can be modified if the ball falls in a capillary tilted away from the

vertical direction. Following the analysis of tangential force

components along an inclined plane (Figure 1), the expression for

viscosity is slightly modified, as follows:

η =d^ 2(pb-p1)gsinθ /18L*T (5)

where θ is the angle between the capillary axis and the horizontal

plane.

One immediate concern is how long it would take for the ball to actually

reach its terminal velocity after release. For typical ball size and mass

of our experiment, this time constant is negligibly small (~1 ms in

water) and can be safely ignored. The fluid viscosity obtained by

applying the Stokes’ formula while ignoring all necessary corrections is

referred to as apparent viscosity. This lab shows how different that

might be from the true fluid viscosity and describes a proper

procedure to obtain the latter.

 Procedure:

(1) Connect one end of a capillary into an empty syringe via a 2 mm

diameter rubber tube.

(2) Insert the open end of the capillary into a test liquid and gently

withdraw the syringe pistol to apply suction until the capillary is filled

with the test fluid.

(3) Seal the open end by plugging it with clay before detaching the

other end from the syringe mount.

(4) Pick up a steel ball by sticking it to a finger and drop it into the

capillary tube. This works better than using forceps. When dropped

into the capillary, the tiny ball is usually stuck at the meniscus.

(5) Gently slide the filled capillary into a slit on the rack.

(6) Use a magnet to move the steel ball below the meniscus and to

within the fluid. Then, release the ball by withdrawing the magnet

horizontally away from the capillary.

(7) Record the travel time T of the ball over a pre-marked distance L.
(8) Flip the capillary so that the ball is again at the top end of the

capillary. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for as many trials as desired.

 Conclusion:

The ball drop viscosity measurement described in this report is

convenient, reliable and practically useful. It requires no computer

interface, nor any electric instrument other than a stopwatch. The

technique may yield viscosity values in the error range of 5-10%,

dependent on how meticulous the experimenter is, how many

standard samples are measured for calibration, and how many

repeated measurements are made on a sample of interest. If

performed with care, the technique is reliable for practical

applications.

● Precautions And Sources Of Error:

 In order to minimise the effects, although small, on the value of

terminal velocity (more precisely on the value of viscous drag, force

F), the radius of the wide bore tube containing the experimental

viscous liquid should be much larger than the radius of the falling

spherical balls.

 2. The steel balls should fall without touching the sides of the tube.

 3. The ball should be dropped gently in the tube containing viscous/

liquid.
S. No. Diameter Square of Time taken for covering distance h Terminal
the radius
of = ... cm between rubber bands Velocity
of the
spherical balls r 2 hvt=
(m2)
balls d (m–1)
r =d/2 A and A and B and C Mean
Bt Ct2 t3= t2–
(cm) (m) time
t1