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In 1851, George Gabriel Stokes derived an expression, now known as Stokes law, for the frictional force – also
called drag force – exerted on spherical objects with very small Reynolds numbers in a viscous fluid.[1] Stokes'
law is derived by solving the Stokes flow limit for small Reynolds numbers of the Navier–Stokes equations.[2]

Statement of the law

Applications
Terminal velocity of sphere falling in a fluid
Derivation
Steady Stokes flow
Transversal Flow around a sphere
Rotational Flow around Sphere
Other types of Stokes flow
See also
References

The force of viscosity on a small sphere moving through a viscous fluid is given by:[3]

where:

Fd is the frictional force – known as Stokes' drag – acting on the interface between the fluid and the
particle
μ is the dynamic viscosity (some authors use the symbol η)
R is the radius of the spherical object
v is the flow velocity relative to the object.

In SI units, Fd is given in newtons (= kg m s−2), μ in Pa·s (= kg m−1 s−1), R in meters, and v in m/s.

Stokes' law makes the following assumptions for the behavior of a particle in a fluid:

Laminar flow
Spherical particles
Homogeneous (uniform in composition) material
Smooth surfaces
Particles do not interfere with each other.

For molecules Stokes' law is used to define their Stokes radius.

The CGS unit of kinematic viscosity was named "stokes" after his work.

Stokes law is the basis of the falling-sphere viscometer, in which the fluid is stationary in a vertical glass tube.

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