Tutorial

Viscosity and surface tension

1. A block of mass 6kg slides down an inclined plane of slope 15° on a thin film of oil. The
film contact area with the block is 35cm 2 and its thickness is 1mm. Assuming a linear
velocity distribution in the film, find the terminal velocity of the block. Viscosity of oil is
0.29 Pas. [15m/s]
2. A shaft 6cm in diameter and 40cm long is pulled steadily at 0.4m/s through a sleeve
6.02cm in diameter. The clearance is filled with oil of viscosity 0.003m 2/s and specific
gravity of 0.88. Calculate the force required to pull the shaft. [795N]
3. The belt in the following figure moves at a steady velocity of 2.5m/s over oil of viscosity
0.29 Pas. If width of the belt is 60cm and its length is 2m, how much power is needed to
drive it if oil film thickness is 3cm? [73W]

4. What is the maximum diameter of a steel needle that can float on water surface? Assume
surface tension of water 0.073N/m and specific gravity of steel 7.8. [1.6mm]
5. An air-hockey puck has mass of 50g and diameter of 9cm. Wind tunnel experiments
show that a 0.12mm thick air film forms under the puck. The puck is truck with an initial
velocity of 10m/s. How long will it take the puck to (a) slow down to 1m/s (b) come to
rest. How far will the puck have travelled for (a)? Take viscosity of air as 1.8 x 10 -5 Pas.
[121s, inf, 472m]
6. Two thin flat plates are tilted at an angle of 30° with vertical in a tank of water whose
surface tension is 0.073N/m. At the free surface of water in the tank, the two plates are a
distance of 1cm apart. The plates are 1m long into the paper. Assuming zero contact
angle for the water-plate interface, calculate the capillary rise. [16mm]
7. A thin 30cm x 30cm flat plate is pulled at 3m/s horizontally through a 3.6mm thick oil
layer sandwiched between two plates, one stationary and the other moving at a constant
velocity of 0.3m/s. The dynamic viscosity of the oil is 0.027 Ns/m 2. Assuming the
velocity in each oil layer varies linearly, plot the velocity profile and the find the location
where the oil velocity is zero and also determine the force that needs to be applied on the
plate to maintain this motion. [0.236mm from bottom wall, 10.4N]
8. The clutch system shown in the figure below is used to transmit torque through a 2mm
thick oil film with viscosity 0.38Ns/m2 between two identical 30cm diameter disks. When
the driving shaft rotates at a speed of 1450 rpm, the driven shaft is observed to rotate at
1398 rpm. Assuming a linear velocity profile for the oil film, determine the transmitted
torque. [0.82 Nm]

9. A cylinder of mass 1kg, diameter 5cm and length 20cm slides down from rest through a
vertical tube whose inner wall is lined with a 1mm thick layer of oil of viscosity
0.05Ns/m2. Calculate the velocity attained by the cylinder in 2s. What is the maximum
velocity it reaches (terminal velocity)? [5.975m/s, 6.245m/s]
10. A thin plate moves horizontally in a liquid filled region between two fixed horizontal
plates. Where in this gap is the force on the plate minimum? What if there are two
different liquids on the two sides of the plate? Also calculate how its speed changes if it
starts from an initial velocity of uo. [midpoint, exponential decay]
11. Find the maximum diameters of steel and aluminium balls that float on water. Specific
gravities of steel and aluminium are 7.8 and 2.7 respectively. Take surface tension of
water as 0.073N/m.
12. Determine the density of water at a certain depth where the pressure was found to be
100MPa. Take the average coefficient of compressibility as 2350MPa and density at free
surface as 1030kg/m3. [1074kg/m3]
13. A liquid of viscosity 15P flows over a fixed plate with a velocity distribution of u = 0.9y
– y2 where y is the distance above the plate. Calculate the shear stress at the plate and at a
distance of 0.2m above it. [1.35Pa, 0.75Pa]
14. An 80mm shaft is pushed through a 200mm long bearing sleeve of diameter 80.2mm at
0.45m/s. Calculate the force required if the gap is filled with a liquid of specific gravity
0.88 and its viscosity is 50St. Also calculate how much time it takes for the cylinder to
decelerate to 5% of its initial velocity when the external force is removed. Assume the
mass of cylinder to be 500g. [99.5N, 6.7ms]
15. Develop the expression for hydrostatic pressure at any given depth taking into account
water’s compressibility. Compare its results with the standard p = γh relation for different
values of h.
16. A metal plate 1.25m x 1.25m x 6mm thick and weighing 90N is placed midway in 24mm
gap between two vertical plane surfaces. The gap is filled with an oil of specific gravity
 0.85 and dynamic viscosity 3Ns/m2. Determine the force and power required to lift the
plate with a constant velocity of 0.15m/s. [168N, 2.52kW]
17. A small circular jet of mercury 200 microns in diameter issues from an opening. What is
the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the jet? Take surface tension =
0.514N/m. [5.14kPa]
18. Derive the expression for capillary rise in an inclined tube. [same as that for vertical]
19. Calculate the height up to which water rises in a tube of radius 1mm assuming a contact
angle of 0° and surface tension of 0.073N/m. What happens if the tube height is 14mm?
Does the liquid overflow? [14.88mm, contact angle ϴ increases to 19.83°, no, there is
no more glass to pull the water up so the contact angle changes such that net force on the
liquid column is zero]
20. An underwater air bubble near the surface has a diameter of 0.01mm. Calculate its
diameter when it is transported to a depth of 10m. Assume isothermal conditions.
[0.0082mm]
21. What is the damping torque for a rotational speed of 0.3rad/s of the following disc if the
oil surrounding it has a viscosity of 8 x 10 -3Pa.s? Neglect forces developed around the
circumference. [2.98 x 10-5Nm]

22. Find the ratio of gauge pressures inside an air bubble and a soap bubble of the same
radius assuming the same surface tension. [1:2]
23. Derive an expression for the power required to drive a conical bearing.
24. An experiment is devised to determine the viscosity of a liquid using the capillary tube
viscometer apparatus. The liquid is stored in a reservoir tank at the bottom of which a
pipe 4cm in diameter is connected that discharges to a volumetric measurement tray. Two
piezometer tubes are placed at a c/c distance of 2m along the pipe. At the end of the
experiment, it is observed that the total volume of the liquid collected in the tray is 20
liters in a duration of 10 seconds. If the liquid is found to be 20% less dense than water,
estimate its viscosity. The piezometric readings are 30cm and 20cm.