University Of Sharjah

College Of Engineering
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering

Fluid Mechanics Laboratory

0401344
Mark:

/ 100
Summer 2021-2022

Experiment #1: Measurement of Density, Specific

Gravity and Viscosity

Course Instructor: Eng. Ali Tahmaz

Lab Engineer: Eng. Tariq Alhomsi
89
Section no.: 11
Date of Experiment: 07/06/2022 100
Date of Submission: 15/06/2022

Group Number:
Student ID Student Name
Abdullah Bayram U15104468
Humaid Yousif U19200025
Maadh Ahmed U19103621
Rashed Mohamed U19106290
Mohammed Nuwaid U20103535
Tamer Abdulkarim U18100017
Saad

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Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Objectives ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Part I .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Part II ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Theoretical background .......................................................................................................................... 4
Part I ..................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Part II .................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Practical Applications .............................................................................................................................. 5
Apparatus ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Part I .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Part II ................................................................................................................................................... 8
Procedure................................................................................................................................................ 9
Part I .................................................................................................................................................... 9
Part II ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Calculation & Results ............................................................................................................................ 10
Part I ..................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Data Collected .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Sample Calculation for 25 ml Flask Distilled Water Sample ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table of Results ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Part II .................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Data Collected .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Sample Calculation for 1.5 mm Sphere Trial 1 ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table of Results ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Discussion.............................................................................................................................................. 10
Part I ..................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
25 ml Flask........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
50 ml Flask........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Part II .................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Sources of Error .................................................................................................................................... 17
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 17
References ............................................................................................................................................ 17

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Forces on sphere ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 2: Flasks (25 ml – 50 ml) ............................................................................................................... 7
Figure 3: Distilled Water ......................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 4: Mechanical Balance ................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 5: Glycerin 98% ............................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 6: Thermometer ........................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 7: Glycerol 98% ............................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 8: Glass tube of 55mm ................................................................................................................. 8
Figure 9: Spherical Ball (1.48-2.98) mm .................................................................................................. 8
Figure 10: Stop Watch............................................................................................................................. 8

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Introduction
Fluid mechanics is the science that analyzes the forces that are applied to and produced by
fluids. Fluid mechanics is divided into two branches: fluid statics and fluid dynamics.

A material that flows is referred to as a fluid. Shear is an easily created external force. The
volume of an object is defined by its form, which is usually liquid or gas.

The density and viscosity of the fluid will be determined during the experiment. And Fluids
are already a part of our everyday lives, and most engineers in fields like Civil, Mechanical,
and Chemical Engineering are expected to grasp fluid mechanics.

Fluids are gases or liquids that assume the shape of the container and deform or flow
continuously when shear force is applied. When a fluid is moving, it is subjected to shear
force; when the fluid is at rest, the shear force is zero. The characteristics of the fluid must be
known in order to solve engineering difficulties. Experiments are used to determine these
characteristics. Density, viscosity, specific weight, and specific gravity are some of these
qualities. During the experiment, they will be quantified and discussed.

Objectives
Part I
Using an experimental approach, determine the density, specific gravity, and specific weight
of glycerin and distilled water.
Part II
Using an experimental approach, determine the viscosity of glycerin..

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Theoretical background

Part 1:
The amount of mass present in a substance per unit volume is known as density. It's a
measure of how tightly a substance is packed. The formula is =m/V, where m represents
mass, V represents volume, and ρ the density.

The ratio of the fluid weight (gravity force) per unit volume of the fluid is known as specific
weight. The formula is =W/V, with W denoting weight and V denoting volume.

Specific Gravity is the measure of how heavy something is. It's a ratio or comparison value
between the density, specific weight, masses, and weight of a fluid and the corresponding
attribute of water. The formula is SG = (ρ Substance)/(ρ Water), SG = (ƴ substance)/(ƴ
water), SG =(mass of substance)/(mass of water), and SG=(weight of substance)/(weight of
water). It's a unit less value because it's a ratio.

Part 2:
The ability of a fluid to resist flow is measured in viscosity. It indicates how thick the fluid is.
The fluid thickens and flows less freely as its viscosity rises, and vice versa.

There are two forms of viscosity:

-Viscosity Dynamic (absolute viscosity) = / (dv/dy) is the formula for calculating it. Its unit is
the poise, which is equivalent to 01 N.s/m^2.

-Viscosity Kinematic It's a scalar quantity that represents the dynamic viscosity of a fluid per
unit density v=µ/ρ the unit is stokes, which is 10^-4 m^2/s.

Viscometer is the instrument that measure the viscosity. The falling sphere viscometer was
used.

As the sphere is dropped through the liquid inside the viscometer the following forces act
on it.

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 • FD = Drag force/frictional force= 3πµVd
ƴ𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 ∗ 𝜋𝑑 3
• FB = Buoyance force=
6
ƴ𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑 ∗𝜋𝑑 3
• 𝑊 = 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 𝑚𝑔 =
6

Solving the three equations together we get that

𝑑2 (ƴ𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑 – ƴ𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑)
µ=
18𝑉

the viscometer has an inaccuracy called the wall effect which means that the velocity must be
corrected to get a more accurate viscosity value

𝒅 𝒅 𝟑 𝒅 𝟓
𝑽𝒕 (𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅) = 𝑽[𝟏 − 𝟐. 𝟏𝟎𝟒 (𝑫 ) + 𝟐. 𝟎𝟗 (𝑫 ) − 𝟎. 𝟗𝟓 (𝑫 ) ]-1
𝒕 𝒕 𝒕

Practical Applications
Density it is used to know how pure a substance is such as gold, its also used in medicine to
know the composition of mixtures.

Specific Weight Is used by Geotechnical engineers to know the soil property and predict its
behavior. By structural engineers to know the weight of a building and calculate its loads

Specific Gravity is used to determine the ratio between a substance and water which will be
needed to know if the material will sink or float and that is ideal in the ship and boat production
to determine which materials should be used.

Viscosity is an indicator for engineers to know how a fluid will behave in real life and they can
control by adding chemical for the ease of use but some fluids viscosity should stay as it is such
as paints and creams for ease of use.
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Apparatus
Part I

Figure 1: Flasks (25 ml – 50 ml)

Figure 2: Distilled Water

Figure 3: Mechanical Balance

Figure 4: Glycerin 98%

Figure 5: Thermometer

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Part II
1. Glass tube of 55mm: was used as a failing sphere viscometer.
2. Two spherical balls: They are made out of steel with diameter of 1.48mm
and 2.98mm. They also have the masses of 0.01g and 0.15g. Were used to
measure the viscosity in terms of the terminal velocity.
3. Stop watch: used to measure the time interval of a 5cm distance.

Figure 7: Glass tube of 55mm

Figure 8: Spherical Ball (1.48-2.98) mm

Figure 9: Stop Watch

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Procedure
Part I
• Take the mass for each empty flask using the electric balance and write it down
• Fill one 25 mm flask with glycerine and the other with disstled water
• Do the same with the 50 mm flask.
• Retake the mass for each flask with the corresponding liquid inside using the electric
balance and write it down.
• Insert the thermometer inside the sample and write down the reading.

Part II
• Mark two points on the tube.
• Set the stopwatch to zero and standby
• Drop the first sphere with the known diameter
• Start the timer when the ball passes the first marking. Stop the timer when the ball
passes the second timer
• Write down the time taken
• Redo the steps for all spheres

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Calculation & Results

Experimental measurements and records:

Density Measurement:

Fluid Properties Experiment (Density measurement)

Test Number 1 2 3 4
Flask size (ml) 25 50
Liquid Name Water Glycerol 98 Water Glycerol 98
Temperature (°C) 25 25 25 25
Mass of the empty 24.23 24.27 37.05 37.85
flask (g)
Mass of the flask 49.16 55.11 84.98 93.18
filled with liquid (g)

Viscosity Measurement (Glycerol 98):

Fluid Properties Experiment (Viscosity Measurement)

Liquid 25
Temperature (°C)
Diameter of 0.0915
viscometer Dt (m)
Specific Weight of 12.29193
the liquid (KN/m3)
Vertical distance 0.5
(m)
Trial Number 1 2 1 2
Diameter of the 0.00248 0.00248 0.00498 0.00498
sphere (m)
Mass of the 0.00006 0.00006 0.00018 0.00018
sphere (kg)
Travel time (s) 26.28 27.59 31.66 31.8

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Sample Calculations:

Part 1 (Fluid Density):

25ml flask of water

Mass of fluid = Mass of full flask – Mass of empty flask

= 0.04916 – 0.02423 = 0.02493 kg

Flask size = 25ml = 0.000025 m3

Density = Mass / volume occupied by the mass

= 0.02493 / 0.000025 = 997.2 kg/m3

Weight density (specific weight) = Density * 9.81

= 997.2 * 9.81 = 9782.532 N/m3 = 9.782532 kN/m3

Specific Gravity = density of fluid / density of water [Value can be density, Specific weight or SG]

= 997.2 / 1000 = 0.997.2 ≈ 1

Error % = (|True value – Experimental value|) / True value [Value can be density, Specific weight or
SG]

= (|997.13 – 997.2|) / 997.13 = 0.007020148%

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50ml flask of glycerol 98

Mass of fluid = Mass of full flask – Mass of empty flask

= 0.09318– 0.03785= 0.05533 kg

Flask size = 50ml = 0.00005 m3

Density = Mass / volume occupied by the mass

= 0.05533 / 0.00005 = 1106.6 kg/m3

Weight density (specific weight) = Density * 9.81

= 1106.6 * 9.81 = 10855.75 N/m3 = 10.85575 kN/m3

Specific Gravity = density of fluid / density of water [Value can be density, Specific weight or SG]

= 1106.6 / 1000 = 1.1066

Error % = (|True value – Experimental value|) / True value [Value can be density, Specific weight or
SG]

= (|1253 – 1106.6|) / 1253 = 11.6839585%

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Part 2 (Measurement of Viscosity):

2.48 mm diameter ball

Volume of the ball = (πD3) / 6

= (π)(0.00248)3 / 6 = 7.9824E-09 m3

Specific Weight (γS) = (mass * 9.81) / Volume

= (0.00006 * 9.81) / (7.9824E-09) = 73737.22977 N/m3 = 73.73722977 kN/m3

Terminal Velocity = Vertical distance / Travel time

= 0.5 / 26.28 = 0.019025875 m/s

3 5
Corrected velocity = Terminal velocity / ( 1 - 2.104 * (Ds / Dt) + 2.09 * (Ds / Dt) – 0.95 * (Ds / Dt) )

= 0.019025875 / ( 1 - 2.104 * (0.00248 / 0.0915) + 2.09 * (0.00248 / 0.0915) 3 –

0.95 * (0.00248 / 0.0915) 5 )

= 0.020175577 m/s

Dynamic Viscosity of the fluid = (Diameter of sphere)2 * (γS – γL) / (18 * Corrected velocity)

= 0.002482 * (73737.22977 – 12291.93) / 18 * 0.020175577

= 1.040623313 Pa.s

Kinematic Viscosity of the fluid = Dynamic Viscosity of the fluid / Density of the fluid

= 1.040623313 / (γL / 9.81) = 0.000830505 m2/s

Error % = (|True value – Experimental value|) / True value

= (|0.939 – 1.040623313|) / 0.939 = 10.82250408%

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4.98 mm diameter ball

Volume of the ball = (πD3) / 6

= (π)(0.00498)3 / 6 = 6.46E-08 m3

Specific Weight (γS) = (mass * 9.81) / Volume

= (0.00018 * 9.81) / (6.46E-08) = 27319.65 N/m3 = 27.31965 kN/m3

Terminal Velocity = Vertical distance / Travel time

= 0.5 / 31.66 = 0.015793 m/s

3 5
Corrected velocity = Terminal velocity / ( 1 - 2.104 * (Ds / Dt) + 2.09 * (Ds / Dt) – 0.95 * (Ds / Dt) )

= 0.019025875 / ( 1 - 2.104 * (0.00498 / 0.0915) + 2.09 * (0.00498 / 0.0915) 3 –

0.95 * (0.00498 / 0.0915) 5 )

= 0.017828 m/s

Dynamic Viscosity of the fluid = (Diameter of sphere)2 * (γS – γL) / (18 * Corrected velocity)

= 0.002482 * (27319.65 – 12291.93) / 18 * 0.017828

= 1.161361 Pa.s

Kinematic Viscosity of the fluid = Dynamic Viscosity of the fluid / Density of the fluid

= 1.161361 / (12291.93 / 9.81) = 0.000927 m2/s

Error % = (|True value – Experimental value|) / True value

= (|0.939 – 1.161361|) / 0.939 = 23.68066%

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Tables of results:

Summery of results, Density measurement

Test number 1 2 3 4
Flask size (mL) 25 50
Mass of fluid (kg) 0.02493 0.03084 0.04793 0.05533
Density (kg/m3) 997.2 1233.6 958.6 1106.6
Specific weight 9.782532 12.101616 9.403866 10.855746
(kN/m3)
Specific Gravity 1.000070201 1.237150622 0.961359101 1.109785083
Error % 0.007020148 1.548284118 3.864089938 11.6839585

Summary of results, Viscosity measurement

Test number 1 2 1 2
Sphere Diameter 0.00248 0.00498
(m)
Volume of the 7.9824E-09 6.46348E-08
sphere (m3)
Specific Weight 73.73722977 27.31964719
of the sphere
(kN/m3)
Terminal Velocity 0.019025875 0.018122508 0.015792798 0.01572327
Vt
Corrected 0.020175577 0.019217621 0.017828376 0.017749887
Velocity
Dynamic 1.040623313 1.092496089 1.16136144 1.166496961
Viscosity

Kinematic 0.000830505 0.000871904 0.000926865 0.000930963

Viscosity

Error % 10.82250408 16.34676132 23.68066453 24.2275784

check the clouded values

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Discussion
After finishing the whole procedure and calculations for both parts of the experiment, many
differences were noticed in the properties of both fluids:

Density measurement:
Regarding this part, the measurement of density for water came out to be 997.2kg/m3 compared
to the 1233.6kg/m3 for the glycerol 98, following that the specific weight and specific gravity of the
fluids were also different as the specific weight is just the density multiplied by the gravitational
constant, the specific weight of water came out to be around 9,78kN/m3 compared to the
12.1016kN/m3 for the glycerol, water Specific gravity fell around 1 while glycerol was around 1.237,
glycerol showed a thicker more denser structure compared to the water, these differences in
properties shows how different materials can act differently in specific environments, generally the
error for both flask sizes was small and acceptable and the numbers were 0.007%, 1.548% and
3.86%, except for trial 4 which got an error percentage of 11.7% which shows that definitely a bigger
human error was involved.

Viscosity measurement:
In this part the viscosity of glycerol 98 was calculated using the falling ball viscometer, two
different balls were utilized with 2.48mm and 4.98mm diameter, the viscosity with both balls should
have been the same but it seems like a lot of error was involved here too, for both trials with the
2.48mm diameter ball a result of 1.040623313Pa.s and 1.092496089Pa.s was obtained, while the
bigger balls gave a less accurate reading of 1.16136144Pa.s and 1.166496961Pa.s as the true
viscosity value for glycerol 98 is 0.939Pa.s! Different ball sizes should lead to the same viscosity
value, but due to high errors in these 4 trials, accurate answers couldn’t be found as the trials for the
2.48mm spheres was 10.82250408% and 16.34676132% respectively, while the 4.98mm spheres
gave a higher error of 23.68066453% and 24.2275784% respectively, this could have been due to the
higher diameter which meant the ball surface was closer to the wall so the terminal velocity couldn’t
be calculated as accurate is it could have been.

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Sources of Error
• Inaccurate volume reading due to sight inclination
• Some drops of water were on the side of the flask which leads to inaccurate
mass reading
• The timers were not started at exactly the start nor at the end.
• The spheres were not in totally free motion which will cause a change in speed
and time

Conclusion

Using the necessary apparatus, the density, specific weight, specific gravity, and error were
calculated in the first stage of the experiment. It was discovered that these values do not
alter when different apparatus are used, but remain constant for the same material. The
viscosity of the material was measured in the second portion, and because it is a fluid
attribute, it did not vary when different sized spheres were used.

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References
http://www.viscopedia.com/basics/types-of-viscosity/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_weight
The lab manual prepared by Dr Tarek Merabtene, Dr Mohsin Siddique and Eng. Nuha Awad

http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-terminal-velocity-definition-formula-calculation-
examples.html

http://study.com/academy/lesson/buoyant-force-definition-equation-examples.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass#Weight_vs._mass

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/water-thermal-properties-d_162.html

http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/general_physics/2_2/2_2_3.html

http://www.dow.com/optim/optim-advantage/physical-properties/density.htm

References for standard values:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/metal-alloys-densities-d_50.html

http://www.farm.net/~mason/materials/specific-gravity.html

http://www.aciscience.org/docs/physical_properties_of_glycerine_and_its_solutions.pdf

http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_water.htm

http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDOWCOM/dh_0032/0901b80380032282.p
df?filepath=glycerine%2Fpdfs%2Fnoreg%2F115-00656.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc

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