Faculty Publications
Stokes' Dream: Measurement Of Fluid Viscosity From The Attenuation Of Capillary Waves
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book/Conference Title
American Journal of Physics
Volume
78
Issue
11
First Page
1165
Last Page
1169
Abstract
The determination of viscosity from the attenuation of capillary waves was first suggested by Stokes more than a century ago. At the time, it was not practical to measure the attenuation of surface waves with the requisite precision to render the method useful. We describe a noncontact method for measuring the wavelength and amplitude of single-frequency capillary waves to obtain reliable values of the surface tension and viscosity. The attenuation data for several glycerin-water mixtures are used to obtain the viscosity as a function of glycerin concentration. For a wide range of viscosity, the method yields results that are in good agreement with the most reliable published data. © 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers.
Department
Department of Physics
Original Publication Date
10-21-2010
DOI of published version
10.1119/1.3467887
Recommended Citation
Behroozi, F.; Smith, J.; and Even, W., "Stokes' Dream: Measurement Of Fluid Viscosity From The Attenuation Of Capillary Waves" (2010). Faculty Publications. 2050.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/2050
