FLUID MECHANICS

CLD 10603
Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors
 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Objectives
Student should be able to:
i. Define and determine the fluid properties
such as:
Weight, mass, density, specific gravity, specific
weight, specific volume, absolute viscosity,
kinematic viscosity.
ii. Understand the liquid behavior:
Surface tension and capillary effect.

CLD 10603 2 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Introduction
 Any characteristic of a system is called a property.
o Familiar: pressure P, temperature T, volume V, and mass m.
o Less familiar: viscosity, thermal conductivity, surface tension.
 Intensive properties are independent of the mass of the
system. Examples: temperature, pressure, and density.
 Extensive properties are those whose value depends on
the size of the system. Examples: Total mass, total
volume, and total momentum.
 Extensive properties per unit mass are called specific
properties. Examples include specific volume v = V/m
and specific total energy e=E/m.

CLD 10603 3 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Mass (m)

Defined as the amount of matter in an object.

Unit : kilograms (kg)/ pounds mass (lbm).

engineers working in the aerospace and
related fields also use the slug.

CLD 10603 4 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Weight (W)
 The magnitude of the force acting on the
object due to Earth’s gravity field.
W  mg
m = mass (kg)
g = standard earth gravity
= 9.81 m /s2 or 32.174 ft/s2

Unit in kg.m/s2 or Newton (N) / pounds force (lbf).

CLD 10603 5 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Density (ρ)
 The quantity of matter contained in a unit
volume of the substance.

mass m
 
volume v

Unit: kg /m3 or lbm/ft3

- Density of liquid is nearly constant
- Density of water = 998 kg / m3

CLD 10603 6 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Density (ρ)
 Density is highly variable in gases and is a
function of the gas composition, its
temperature and its pressure.
P

RT
P = pressure
T = temperature
R = gas constant

CLD 10603 7 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Specific Gravity (SG)

Ratio of a fluid density to a standard reference

fluid, water (for liquid) and air (for gases).

liquid liquid
SGliquid  
 water 998 kg / m3

Unit : None

CLD 10603 8 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Specific Gravity (SG)

Question 1

What is the specific gravity of mercury if  HG

= 13 580 kg / m3 ?

CLD 10603 9 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Specific Weight ()

Defined as the weight per unit volume of fluid.

Weight W
  
Volume V
  g

Unit : N/m3 (kg/m2s2) or lbf/ft3

CLD 10603 11 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Question 2
Although most modern thermometers contain alcohol, older
ones often contained mercury (Hg). During fabrication of a
certain thermometer, the Hg was inserted under standard
conditions so that it filled a reservoir of volume 50 mm3.
Given that Hg has a specific gravity of 13.6 and the density
of water is 1 g/cm3, calculate the weight and mass of the
Hg in the thermometer.

CLD 10603 12 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Specific Volume ()

Defined as a ratio of volume over mass.

volume 1
 
mass 

Unit : m3 /kg or ft3/ slugs

CLD 10603 14 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Viscosity ()
 Viscosity is a property
that represents the
internal resistance of a
fluid to motion.

 The force a flowing fluid

exerts on a body in the
flow direction is called
the drag force, and the
magnitude of this force
depends, in part, on
viscosity.

CLD 10603 15 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Absolute Viscosity ()

 Tangential force per unit area,
required to drag one layer of
fluid with unit velocity past
another layer a unit distance
away.

 = absolute viscosity
xy = shear stress
 xy du/dy = velocity /distance
 
du
( ) Unit : kg/m.s or Pa.s or N.s/m2 or lbf.s/ft2 or
dy poise
(1 poise = 0.1 Pa.s)

CLD 10603 16 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Kinematic Viscosity ()

Defined as the ratio of absolute viscosity to
density.



Unit : m2/s or stoke (1 St = 10-4 m2/s)

 and  is a temperature dependent

- Gases : viscosity  temperature 
- Liquids : viscosity  temperature 

CLD 10603 17 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Cohesion & Adhesion

Cohesion and adhesion is an attractive forces
between material bodies.

Cohesive force
Force which acts to hold together the like
atoms, ions, or molecules of a single body.

Example: The molecules of a water droplet

are held together by cohesive forces, and
the especially strong cohesive forces at the
surface constitute surface tension.

CLD 10603 18 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Cohesion & Adhesion

Adhesive force
Force which acts to hold two separate bodies
together (or to stick one body to another).

Example: The adhesive forces between water

molecules and the walls of a glass tube are
stronger than the cohesive forces lead to an
upward turning meniscus at the walls of the
vessel and contribute to capillary action.

CLD 10603 19 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Surface Tension
 Tendency of liquids to reduce their exposed
surface to the smallest possible area.
 Small insects
walk on water
 Soap bubble
 Water beads on
flower petals
 Water droplets
from rain
CLD 10603 20 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors
 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Surface Tension
 Liquids droplets behave like small spherical balloons
filled with liquid, and the surface of the liquid acts
like a stretched elastic membrane under tension.
 The pulling force that causes this is
 due to the attractive forces between molecules
 called surface tension s.
 Attractive force on surface molecule is not
symmetric.
 Repulsive forces from interior molecules causes the
liquid to minimize its surface area and attain a
spherical shape.

CLD 10603 21 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Surface Tension
 A molecule I in the interior
experience an attractive
force from neighboring
molecules which surround
on all sides.
I
 Molecules on the surface
have neighboring molecules
only on one side (the side
facing the interior) and thus
experience an attractive
force which tends to pull
them into the interior .
CLD 10603 22 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors
 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Surface Tension
 The total energy of the fluid
system is minimized when each
molecule has the “correct” number
of neighbors.
 The surface molecules of liquid do
not have identical molecules above
them, they will be more strongly
attracted to their neighbors below
and in the plane of the interface.
 The result is a layer of surface
molecules that at the macroscopic
level behaves as an elastic
membrane.

CLD 10603 23 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Surface Tension

The units for surface

tension are N/m, dyn/cm,
or lbf /ft.

CLD 10603 24 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Contact Angle and Wetting

 When a liquid contacts a solid surface, the line at
which liquid, gas, and solid meet is called the
contact line.
 θ is called the contact angle and is a measure of the
quality of wetting.
 The net surface tension acting on a contact line
depends on all three materials-liquid, gas, and solid.
A force balance on the contact line shows that
σSG − σSL = σ cos (θc)

CLD 10603 25 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Contact Angle and Wetting

(A) The relevant force balance at the contact line. (B) Example
of a liquid wetting a solid as defined by a contact angle θc <
90◦. (C) In contrast, the liquid does not wet the solid, since θc >
90◦
CLD 10603 26 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors
 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Contact Angle and Wetting

 Fig. (a) and (b)
represents the case of a
liquid which wets a solid
surface well, e.g. water
on a very clean copper.

 Fig.(c) represents the case of no

wetting.
o If there were exactly zero wetting, 
would be 180.
o This might represent water on teflon
or mercury on clean glass.

CLD 10603 27 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Capillary Effect
 Capillary effect is the rise or
fall of a liquid in a small-
diameter tube.
 The curved free surface in
the tube is call the
meniscus.
 Water meniscus curves up
because water is a wetting
fluid.
 Mercury meniscus curves
down because mercury is a
nonwetting fluid.
 Force balance can describe
magnitude of capillary rise.

CLD 10603 28 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Capillary Effect

2  cos 
h
 gr
Where:
h = height capillary rise, m
 = surface tension, N/m
 = contact angle
 = density of a liquid, kg/m3
g = gravitation force , 9.81 m/s2
r = radius of tube, m

CLD 10603 29 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Capillary Effect
Question 3

Suppose that for this Figure, r is

1 mm,  = 0o,  = 0.073 N/m and
 = 1000 kg/m3. Calculate the
capillary rise for a water-air-
glass interface.

CLD 10603 30 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors

 Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering technology

Capillary Effect
Question 4

What is the approximate capillary rise of

water in contact with air (surface tension
coefficient = 0.073 N/m) in a clean glass
tube of 5 mm diameter (state any
assumptions made)

CLD 10603 32 Chapter 2: Fluid Characteristics and Behaviors