UNIVERSITY OF HONGKONG DEPARTMENT OF

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING FLUID

MECHANICS LABORATORY

TITLE Viscosity by a Falling Particle

OBJECTIVE
To determine the viscosity of a fluid by measuring the terminal velocity of a spherical
particle falling in the fluid.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. According to Stokes law, the frictional force acting on a small spherical object
moving slowly in a viscous fluid is given by
F = 6πµ RV
where F is the frictional force, also known as Stokes drag, µ is the dynamic
viscosity of the fluid, R is the radius of the spherical object, and V is the flow
velocity relative to the object.
2. When a spherical particle is dropped from rest to fall freely in a viscous fluid, it
will accelerate downward until it gains sufficient speed so that the upward Stokes
drag is large enough to balance the apparent weight (i.e., the true weight (mg =
ρsVsg) minus the buoyancy force (ρfVsg)) of the particle where ρs is the mass
density of the particle, ρf is the mass density of the fluid, g is the acceleration due
to gravity, and Vs=(4πR3)/3 is the volume of particle. On reaching this
equilibrium state, the particle will fall at a constant velocity, which is known as
the terminal velocity. This is also the highest attainable velocity of the falling
particle.
3. By balancing the three forces (weight = buoyancy forces + viscous forces),
one can deduce that the terminal velocity is given by

�𝜌𝑠 − 𝜌𝑓 �g𝐷2
𝑉=
18μ
where D = 2R is the diameter of the particle.
4. The equation above can be used to determine the dynamic viscosity of a fluid as
long as the Reynolds number Re = ρfDV/µ is much smaller than 1.

EQUIPMENT
1. A measuring cylinder containing a colorless viscous fluid. A 30-cm ruler is
glued vertically on the outside of the cylinder.
2. Two metal spherical particles of different sizes.
3. Smart phone (not provided, use your own); phone stand tripod.
4. Fine tip tweezers; calipers; magnet; electronic weighing machine.
5. Tracker, a free video analysis and modeling tool, which can be downloaded at
https://physlets.org/tracker/

1
PROCEDURE
1. The density of the viscous fluid is given as
ρ f = 1,248 kg/m3
2. Use the calipers to measure the diameter of the two particles.
Smaller particle D1 = ×10−3 m
Larger particle D2 = ×10−3 m
3. Use the weighing machine to find the mass of the two particles, and hence
calculate the density of the two particles.
Smaller particle M1 = kg
Larger particle M2 = kg

Smaller particle ρ s1 = 6M 1 / π D13 = kg/m3

Larger particle ρ s 2 = 6M 2 / π D23 = kg/m 3

4. Fix your mobile phone on the tripod in a portrait position. Set the distance and
height of the tripod such that the phone camera can capture a perpendicular view
of the cylinder. The camera should be close enough so that the field of view is
just large enough to cover the top and bottom of the cylinder. The cylinder
should appear as a vertical center image on the screen. Also make sure the
graduation marks on the ruler are clearly seen.
5. Adjust the video quality to HD, and increase the frame rate to 60 fps, if available.
6. Perform the experiment as follows
- Use the tweezers to put Particle 1 approximately 2 cm into the fluid near the
centerline of the cylinder
- Turn on video recording
- Release the particle gently, allowing it to fall freely in the fluid
- Stop the video recording when the particle reaches the bottom of the cylinder
- Use the magnet to get the particle out of the cylinder
7. Play the video to check if the falling of the particle has been clearly captured.
8. Perform Step 6 three times for Particle 1.
9. Repeat Steps 6 – 8 for Particle 2.

2
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
1. Determine the terminal velocity using the Tracker Video Analysis tool.1
Particle Terminal Velocity (m/s) Average
First trial Second trial Third trial terminal
! (m/s)
velocity V
1
2
3

2. Find the dynamic viscosity of the fluid using the terminal velocity equation, and then the
corresponding Reynolds number.

Particle Dynamic viscosity (Pa ∙ s) Reynolds number

%𝜌! − 𝜌" (gD# !
𝜌" DV
𝜇= Re =
18V 𝜇
1
2
3

DISCUSSION
1. Comment on the measured values of the viscosity. What are the possible causes of the difference
of the two values?
2. Comment on the values of the Reynolds number2. Does the flow past the falling particles follow
the Stokes law?
3. By looking up the literature, determine what possibly is the fluid used in this experiment. You
may try to look for a viscous fluid that is colorless, and has a density and viscosity close to those
found in this experiment.

_________________________
1
How to use the tool to do the motion analysis will be explained in detail in the lecture following the
experiment.
2
Concept of the Reynolds number will be explained in detail in the lecture following the experiment.