Measurement of Viscosity of Liquids by Capillary-Flow Method

CHM170L Physical Chemistry 1 Laboratory
4th Quarter SY 2015-2016
Measurement of Viscosity of Liquids by Capillary-Flow Method

Marquez, Ariziel Ruth.1, (Nagayo, Juan Augustus A., Maquiling, Kenth Roger A., Martinez, Chelsea M., Ocado,
Patricia Andrea C.) 2
Professor, School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Mapua Institute of Technology; 2Students, CHM170L/B41, School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and
Biotechnology, Mapua Institute of Technology
1
ABSTRACT
The viscosity of a liquid or fluid is a measure of its resistance to gradual deformation by shear stress
or tensile stress. For the liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of thickness. The objective of
this experiment is to determine the viscosity of a number of normal saturated alcohols. Using
capillary-flow method, the liquid sample was placed inside the viscometer. As these samples flow, the
duration that the liquid travelled from the upper meniscus to the lower meniscus marks of the said
apparatus was taken notice using a timer. By varying the conditions, such as the concentration, the
temperature and the sample itself, a change can be observed which can be related to the
intermolecular force, size, and shape of the molecules present at the sample. The computations were
carried out using the Hagen-Poiseuille equation. Through observation, it can be said that the samples
containing longer chains of molecules, stronger intermolecular forces of attraction and greater
molecular weight, tend exhibit higher viscosity. When it comes to changing the concentration ratio of
the solute versus the solvent, it can be deduced that increasing the concentration of the solute results
to a more viscous solution. Finally, upon changing the temperature on a test substance, it was
observed that increasing the liquids temperature reduces its viscosity. This phenomenon is caused by
the activity of the molecules in the sample. Increasing the temperature heightens the movement of the
molecules and lessens the hold of the intermolecular forces, thus making the sample less viscous.
Keywords: Viscosity, capillary-flow method, Hagen-Poiseuille equation
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS
AND METHODS
Experiment 01 Group No. 7 June 8, 2016
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2 of 6

RESULTS and DISCUSSIONS

An Ostwald-Fenske viscometer is what this experiment
essentially exploited where the time required for the upper
meniscus of the liquid in the feed bulb to pass two
calibration marks was determined in able to get the
viscosity of the given samples.
Viscosity is referred to as the liquids resistance to flow
which means that the higher viscosity the higher the liquids
resistance to flow and vice versa. There are different factors
that affect the viscosity of liquids like: temperature and
concentration
In dealing with viscosity, intermolecular forces play a major
role. Greater attractions between molecules in a certain
liquid allow them to be more intact, closer to one another,
and make them become denser, thus having the greater
resistance to flow.
Table 1. Viscosity of Pure Liquids
Sample
Flow time
through
Ostwald
viscometer,
s
Calculated
viscosity,
kg/ms
Literature
value of
viscosity,
kg/ms
%
Error
Water
117
7.90 x 10-4
7.90 x 10-4
Ethanol
210
1.13 x 10-3
1.10 x 10-3
2.73
Ethylene
Glycol
1692
1.30 x 10-2
1.70 x 10-2
23.5
1Butanol
446
The viscosity of different pure liquids and solutions were

observed. Ethanol exhibited a higher viscosity than water. It
has something to do with their relative shapes. The carbon
chain of the molecules of ethanol tends to become
entangled rather than slip past to another as the water
molecules do. Same goes for 1-butanol. It exhibited a
higher viscosity than both water and ethanol. Its long
carbon chain is what accounts for its high viscosity. Its
molecules tend to slip past another. As for Ethylene glycol
that has a longest carbon chain among the samples,
hydrogen bonding in this case can occur at three sites. It
enables the bonding among the molecules, thereby
increasing the attraction eventually leading to greater
resistance to flow.
The molecular basis the viscosity explains how viscosity
works for a liquid on molecular level. Fundamentally, the
more viscous liquids are those possessing greater
molecular weight. Greater molecular weight also
corresponds for a larger molecule. The larger molecule tend
to slow down when flowing especially on a pipe with very
small diameter, like the Otswald viscometer used in this
experiment. The results of the experiment confirms this
basis. Referring again to Table 1, ethylene glycol having the
highest molecular weight of all the four samples also
exhibited the highest value for viscosity, followed by 1butanol then ethanol and lastly water which has the
smallest molecular weight and viscosity.
Table 2. Effect of salt concentration on viscosities of
aqueous solutions
NaCl
Concentration
0
2.40 x 10-3
2.08
Calculated
viscosity, kg/ms
117
7.90 x 10-4
0.2
146
9.87 x 10-4
0.5
2.45 x 10-3
Flow time
through Ostwald
viscometer, s
139
9.40 x 10-4
132
8.93 x 10-4
Room Temperature, H2O: 33.5C

Room Temperature: 28C
The second part of the experiment dealt with the effect of

salt concentration on the viscosity of aqueous solutions.
Specifically the salt involved is sodium chloride, having
varying concentrations of 0.2 M, 0.5 M and 1.0 M. Referring
3 of 6

to the results gathered, it can be inferred that the viscosity

increases as the concentration of the solute increases. It
can be observed (see Table 3) that the concentration and
the viscosity of the solution have a direct proportionality.
Increasing the salt solution concentration caused an
increase to the viscosity. While NaCl dissolves in the
solution, its ions dissociate in the solution as well. H+ and
OH- of the water also partake in the dissolution. What
dominates is the ionic attraction between the salt molecule
and water molecules. Hence, increasing the NaCl
concentration also increases the ionic attraction between
molecules. High concentration of the solute leads to a
solution of more viscosity. The solutions are more viscous
than pure water. This is because the dissolved solutes gets
between the dissociated water molecules, increasing the
forces of attraction between them which results to greater
resistance in flowing. For concentrations of 0.5 M and 1.0
M, the data were not consistent. Possible source of error
was human error while using the timer.
Table 3. Temperature effects on viscosity of water

Temperature,
o
C
Flow time
through Ostwald
viscometer, s
Calculated
Viscosity,
kg/ms
33.5
117
7.90 x10-4
38.5
110
7.43 x10-4
43.5
102
6.89x10-4
48.5
95
6.42 x10-4
Another factor affecting the viscosity of a liquid is the

temperature. The third part of the experiment sought to
determine the temperature effect to the viscosity of water
(see Table 3). Beginning with the room temperature and
then eventually increasing it at an increment of 5oC, the
effect of the temperature to the viscosity of the water was
concluded. Viscosity can also be affected by the
temperature at which the molecules are in.
It was observed that increasing the temperature of the
water decreases its time of flow through the Otswald
viscometer. Increasing the temperatures means increasing
the average kinetic energy of the molecules. This is by the
direct proportionality between them. By this means, the
ability of the water to flow also increases. As the
temperature is increased, the kinetic energy of the
molecules in a substance increases. The shearing effect
decreases as well as the intermolecular force, which results
to a lower viscosity
Temperature and viscosity are inversely proportional to

each other as shown in the results of this experiment. The
higher the temperature, the lower the viscosity, the more
the liquid will be able to flow. This is due the higher energy
that hotter liquids possess; this makes the liquid be able to
flow more easily when its temperature is high. On the hand,
the concentration of solutions and their viscosity are directly
proportional to each other as shown in the results of this
experiment. The higher the concentration the, the higher
the viscosity, the more the liquid will be able to resist
flowing. This is due to the number of solute present that can
act as a roadblock that will prevent the liquid from flowing.
Viscosity mainly has two kinds: dynamic and kinematic.
Dynamic viscosity is expressed as the resistance of a liquid
to motion, specifically flowing. The dynamic viscosity is
what was observed all throughout this experiment. The
kinematic viscosity is just simply the ratio of the dynamic
viscosity and the density of the liquid. Kinematic viscosity is
useful in analyzing the Reynolds number.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Subsequently performing the three parts of this experiment
with comprehensive observations and calculations,
sufficient data results were gathered to conclude the overall
experiment. In this experiment, the viscosity of the sample
liquids where obtained and recorded through the use of
Ostwald viscometer. In the first part of the experiment,
wherein the samples involved were pure liquids, ethylene
glycol exhibited the highest viscosity while water has the
lowest viscosity. As stated, viscosity is a measure of the
fluids resistance to flow. Hence, the longer the time for the
fluid to flow corresponds to higher viscosity. Intermolecular
force is one factor to consider. The more constricted
attraction between the molecules, the less it will flow thus
the more viscous it is. Ethylene glycol has the highest
viscosity because it has two hydrogen bonding, meaning it
has a strong intermolecular force than the rest, followed by
the 1-butanol which has a long hydrocarbon chains. The
water exhibits shortest chain among the four thus it was the
fastest to flow, least viscous.
On the other hand, aqueous solutions where used as
samples in the second part with increasing concentrations.
Based from data gathered, 1.00 M has the highest viscosity
among the samples (0 M, 0.20 M and 0.50 M). It is
concluded that as the concentration of sodium chloride
increases the viscosity also increases. It is due to the fact
that sodium chloride increases the interaction between the
polymer chain and water molecules.
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Lastly, the effect of temperature to the viscosity of water

was tested. It can be inferred that increasing the
temperature decreases the viscosity of the water as seen
that the time of flow decreases. It is because the kinetic
energy of the molecule at high temperature increases that
lead to the movement of molecules to increase too.
To serve as an aid for the future researchers who will be
doing the same experiment, here are some
recommendations. It would be better to make sure that the
viscometer is in good condition, otherwise, it may result to
errors in the process of acquiring the data. The timer should
be started at the same time your thumb releases the tiny
hole in the viscometer. Also, in doing this experiment, keen
observation is recommended as one should be alert and
focused in stopping the timer as the sample reaches the
marked meniscus of the viscometer. Furthermore, it can be
inferred that the objectives of this experiment were
efficiently met.
7. Daniels, F., et.al. (1962). Experimental physical

chemistry, 6th ed. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
8. Levine, 6th Edition, Physical Chemistry, e-book
version.
SAMPLE CALCULATIONS
Calibration
t = 117 s
H20 = 994.538 kg/m3
H2O at T = 7.9 x 10-4 kg/m-s
REFERENCES
A ,=
1. Wen, Christopher. UCDavis Chemwiki. Viscosity.

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/P
hysical_Properties_of_Matter/Bulk_Properties/Visc
osity
2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Viscosity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity
3. Viscosty of Liquid.
http://www.apsu.edu/robertsonr/chem361020/viscolab.pdf
4. Monika Verma, Nayan Wasnik, T. Sai Sneha and
1Sivacoumar Rajalingam.
Measurement of
Viscosity for Various Liquids by Using Ostwald
Viscometer and Interfacing with Labview.
http://www.ripublication.com/ijaer_spl/ijaerv8n19_4
4.pdf.
5. Green, D., and Perry, R. (20080. Perrys Chemical
Engineers Handbook 8th Edition. McGraw-Hill
Companies. Pp 6-4 6-5.
6. Baluyut, J. Y. G., Caparanga, A. R., and Soriano,
A. N., (2006) Physical Chemistry Laboratory
Manual, Part 1, p 30
7.9 x 104 kg /m . s
=
T
kg
994.538 3 (117 s)
m
A1 = 6.79x 10-9 m2
A. Viscosity of pure liquids

Sample: water
Calculated Viscosity
= At
water =
994.538 kg/m3
t = 117 s
A= 6.79x 10-9 m2
=( 6.79 x 109)(994.538
kg
)(11 7 s)
m3
= 7.9 x 10-4 kg/m-s
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B. Effect of salt concentration on viscosities

of aqueous solutions
NaCl concentration = 0.20M
t =146 s
= At
=(6.79 x 109)(995.797
t =110 s
H2O at 33.50C =
994.538
kg
3
m
= At
kg
)(146 s )
m3
=( 6.79 x 109)(994.538
kg
)(110 s )
m3
C.
NaCl 0.20M = 9.87 x10-4 kg/m-s
Temperature effects on viscosity of water

At room temperature 33.50C
= 7.43 x10-4 kg/m-
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Measurement of Viscosity of Liquids by Capillary-Flow Method

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CHM170L Physical Chemistry 1 Laboratory

4th Quarter SY 2015-2016