The relationship between a fluid’s

dynamic viscosity and temperature

Physics High Level Internal Assessment

Introduction
Viscosity is a well-known concept, as practically everyone is able to tell a liquid is more
viscous than another one. Tar is more viscous than oil. Oil is more viscous than water.
But, why is it relevant and why should we care? The reason for which gathering data on
viscosity is important is to predict how a certain liquid will behave when tested in the
real world under real conditions. For example, if gasoline is not viscous enough when
being in a car, maybe it will not work, which would lead to serious problems with
mobility and transport.
Personally, I got particularly interested in this concept when, on a normal morning, I
wanted to have a toast with honey for breakfast. Accidentally I had put the honey in the
fridge the previous day. The honey was so viscous that I was unable to take any off the
jar. I asked myself: how does viscosity work at a molecular level and how does
temperature influence it?

Background Knowledge
To be more precise, viscosity could be defined as the measure of the resistance to flow
in a fluid in motion.1 This resistance is caused by the particles sliding pass each other in
order to flow, as well as those particles having to slide with the static walls of the
container, making them go slower than those further apart from the wall. This would be
a graph for velocity against distance from the wall:

1
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2022, February 20). Viscosity. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April
19, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/science/viscosity
2
RheoSense, I. (2022, January 21). Viscosity of newtonian and non-newtonian fluids. Viscosity of
Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluids. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from
https://www.rheosense.com/applications/viscosity/newtonian-non-newtonian
For most fluids the relationship between the shear stress and the slope of the velocity
profile is linear. This constant of proportionality is what we call dynamic viscosity, which
can be expressed with the following equation:
𝑑𝑢
𝜏 =µ
𝑑𝑦

This is Newton’s Law of Viscosity, and fluids that follow this proportionality are called
Newtonian fluids.3
From the equation we can see the unit for dynamic viscosity is pascal-seconds, usually
shortened to poise (P), although the centipoise (cP) is more commonly used due to the
viscosity of water at room temperature being 1 cP.

Research question:
“How does temperature affect a fluid’s dynamic viscosity for a certain
volume of liquid?”

Hypothesis
When temperature increases molecular motion increases as well as the molecular
interchange. We can therefore deduce that the more the particles move, the easier they
flow, causing them to reduce their viscosity. We can initially make the supposition that
with an increase in temperature dynamic viscosity will reduce.

Apparatus
• Graduated 500 ml beaker
• A marble (5.12g, 1.08cm)
• A mobile phone
• A Bunsen burner
• 500 ml of water
• 500 ml of olive oil
• 500 ml of honey

3
RheoSense, I. (2022, January 21). Viscosity of newtonian and non-newtonian fluids. Viscosity of
Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluids. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from
https://www.rheosense.com/applications/viscosity/newtonian-non-newtonian
 4 5 6

8 9 10

4
Chemistry Bar Glasses. WebstaurantStore. (2022, April 1). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/50979/chemistry-bar-glasses.html
5
Beaver, S. (2021, March 11). The other one. Marble Connection. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://marbleconnection.com/topic/26385-the-other-one/
6
Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus Olympic Edition Price in Pakistan & specs: Propakistani. Compare Mobile
Prices in Pakistan. (2020, March 24). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://propakistani.pk/price/samsung-galaxy-s20-plus-olympic-edition/
7
Decelis, Z. (2021, September 21). How to set up a Bunsen Burner. B+C Guides. Retrieved April 19, 2022,
from https://guides.brit.co/guides/set-up-a-bunsen-burner
8
Kindersley/Uig, D. (2022, January 26). Beaker filled with water. Fine Art America. Retrieved April 19,
2022, from https://fineartamerica.com/featured/beaker-filled-with-water-dorling-kindersleyuig.html
9
Raw honey (glass jar). 1841 Brick Farmhouse. (2022, April 1). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://clanross6.wixsite.com/1841farmhouse/product-page/raw-honey-glass-jar
10
Aceites y Vinagres. Ir a Carrefour.es. (2022, March 15). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://www.carrefour.es/supermercado/la-despensa/alimentacion/aceites-y-vinagres/cat20066/c
Methodology
The experiment will consist in 5 steps:
1. Introduce the liquid in the graduated beaker until it reaches exactly 500 ml.
2. Heat the liquid until it reaches the desired temperature.
3. Drop the marble from exactly the surface of the liquid.
4. Measure the time it takes for the marble to reach the bottom of the cylinder.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 with the 3 different liquids and 5 times for each temperature.
The fluids that I chose for the experiment are water, olive oil and honey, mainly due to
the broad difference in viscosity: water – 1 cP; olive oil – 107.5 cP; honey – 10,000 cP.
Each fluid will be heated with a Bunsen burner and cooled in a fridge. The temperature
will be measured with a thermometer and the samples we will use are 20℃, 30℃, 40℃,
50℃, and, 60℃.
Then, I will measure the time taken for the marble (the same marble will be used
throughout the experiment) to fall to the bottom of the graduated beaker. This
graduated cylinder will be filled with a volume of 500 ml of the different fluids.

Risk assessment
One of the main risks for the scientific veracity of the experiment is the fact that time
will be measured by eyesight. With water especially this will be an issue as the time it
will take for the marble to go through water will most surely be extremely small,
requiring lots of precision and an accurate reaction time. In order to reduce this risk I
decided to utilize an app in my phone called “Seconds Count”, in which you take a video
of the experiment and later reproduce in slow motion in order to measure more
accurately the time it takes for the marble to fall. Nevertheless, the app has an
uncertainty of approximately 0.005 seconds, as 0.01 seconds is the difference in time
between each frame and there might be a chance that the exact moment in which the
marble impacts the beaker floor is not specifically captured on camera and I will deduce
it happened at some point in the middle of the time between one frame and the next.
Another risk related to the previous point is that the marble is going to be thrown by
hand, therefore lots of care has to be taken in not influencing the speed of the marble
by accidentally throwing it instead of simply letting it fall.
Another risk is that temperature does not distribute homogeneously throughout the
whole liquid. To solve this issue, I will stir the liquid with the thermometer to try to get
the temperature to evenly distribute in the liquid.
Finally, there is a chance that when heating up the different liquids a certain amount of
volume might evaporate, but I do think it will be negligible when collecting the data.
 Data
Time taken (s) (±0.005)
Temp. (ºC) Water Oil Honey
60 Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 –
0.129 0.132 0.133 0.145 0.144 0.153 0.255 0.214 0.248
Avg. – 0.131 Avg. – 0.147 Avg. – 0.239
50 Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 –
0.143 0.146 0.151 0.159 0.161 0.166 0.325 0.341 0.350
Avg. – 0.147 Avg. – 0.162 Avg. – 0.339
40 Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 –
0.214* 0.162 0.167 0.163 0.167 0.170 0.587 0.645 0.599
Avg. – 0.165 Avg. – 0.167 Avg. – 0.610
30 Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 –
0.182 0.200 0.202 0.187 0.198 0.193 1.638 1.468 1.409
Avg. – 0.195 Avg. – 0.193 Avg. – 1.505
20 Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 – Trial 1 – Trial 2 – Trial 3 –
0.226 0.231 0.223 0.266 0.233 0.243 2.105 2.159 2.141
Avg. – 0.227 Avg. – 0.247 Avg. – 2.135
* The reason for this value being so high is that the marble got slightly sticked to the side
of the beaker, which considerably slowed it down. For the sake of the experiment, I have
decided to not have that value into account when calculating the average.

Modelling a function for the relationship

Honey
Time (s)

Oil

Water

Temperature (ºC)
* For the sake of the comprehensibility of the graph the time for temperatures 20 ºC
(2.135s) and 30 ºC (1.505s) in honey have been left outside, but they are obviously still
had into account when constructing the line of best fit.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my hypothesis about increase, in temperature and increase in viscosity
having a positive correlation has been proven correct. The most outstanding observation
I could never have imagined is how vast the difference between honey’s viscosity is to
water and oil, as well as how similar water and oil are in fact.
Another important observation I had not predicted with my hypothesis is that having
honey a greater viscosity than water the decrease in its viscosity as the temperature gets
higher is also greater. Another interesting observation is that the difference in their
viscosities does not remain constant, as one would expect that, for example, at any given
temperature, the difference time taken for the marble to fall in water and honey would
remain proportional, but it does not.
The experiment could be improved by using tongs instead of hands, as these, would
provide the experiment with less human interference, and using another time-
measuring mechanism would also increase precision, but, in general terms, I think it is a
very suitable experiment having into account that the main objective was measuring the
relation between temperature and viscosity, not finding the specific value of it. For this
a much more complex experiment would have to be done, without mentioning the
gigantic expenses on technical equipment. In summary, I am very proud of how the
experiment resulted overall, as well the experience of producing this assessment.
Bibliography
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2022, February 20). Viscosity. Encyclopædia Britannica.
Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/science/viscosity
RheoSense, I. (2022, January 21). Viscosity of newtonian and non-newtonian fluids.
Viscosity of Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluids. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from
https://www.rheosense.com/applications/viscosity/newtonian-non-newtonian
Chemistry Bar Glasses. WebstaurantStore. (2022, April 1). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/50979/chemistry-bar-glasses.html
Beaver, S. (2021, March 11). The other one. Marble Connection. Retrieved April 19,
2022, from https://marbleconnection.com/topic/26385-the-other-one/
Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus Olympic Edition Price in Pakistan & specs: Propakistani.
Compare Mobile Prices in Pakistan. (2020, March 24). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://propakistani.pk/price/samsung-galaxy-s20-plus-olympic-edition/
Decelis, Z. (2021, September 21). How to set up a Bunsen Burner. B+C Guides. Retrieved
April 19, 2022, from https://guides.brit.co/guides/set-up-a-bunsen-burner
Kindersley/Uig, D. (2022, January 26). Beaker filled with water. Fine Art America.
Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://fineartamerica.com/featured/beaker-filled-with-
water-dorling-kindersleyuig.html
Raw honey (glass jar). 1841 Brick Farmhouse. (2022, April 1). Retrieved April 19, 2022,
from https://clanross6.wixsite.com/1841farmhouse/product-page/raw-honey-glass-jar
Aceites y Vinagres. Ir a Carrefour.es. (2022, March 15). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://www.carrefour.es/supermercado/la-despensa/alimentacion/aceites-y-
vinagres/cat20066/c