Discussion/results

The results obtained from this testing were not close to the theoretical values. The
average calculated viscosity of the PDMS was μ=.1343 Pa ∙ s compared to the theoretical value
of [ ] The percent error here is high for such a simple experiment. The main source of error
here was that while doing the experiment, the viscometer failed many times and was not running
normally. The experiment was actually repeated several times, but still different results came up
every time. The spindle for example would act differently for different weights. Also, the rotor
would sometimes speed up and sometimes slows down during the calibration. Friction was
probably a big source of error in the experiment. The viscometer itself was a great tool to collect
data, but the results still had a lot of error compared to the theoretical value of PDMS. The best
way to obtain better results in this case is to use a different viscometer, or maybe use more data
points to help spot where and when the error occurred. From the graph in Fig 4.1, it is obvious
how the value of C was off when the best-fit line is forced to cross the point (0, 0), which
affected the results of part two as well. However, the data points were still linear and there was a
pattern between weight and time when collecting the raw data.

(Graph Here)

Fig [ ]: Water Calibration Graph Comparing the C value with a point (0, 0)

The data points collected in both parts seemed to be reliable and there were patterns like as the
weight increase, the time for the weight to fall decrease. However, when it came to analyzing the
data, the percent error was really high, and that showed that not all of them were actually
reliable, if any. The viscometer was not running normally and it would show different reactions
every time. Measurements with very low weights could not be tested because it would take
forever to get such a data point, and so as measurements with very high weights as timing they
would be hard and the viscometer would not be able to handle it.
A different way to measure the viscosity of liquids, other than the falling ball viscometer,
is to use a pendulum in the solution and then torque would be calculated as it pushes a ball
hanging in the pendulum in the solution. How many times the pendulum swings can then be used
to find the viscosity.