Chapter 1:

Fluid properties and units

 Learning Outcomes
• By the end of this lesson, students should be
able to:
– Determine the units and dimension used in
engineering fluids.
– Identify the fluid properties used in analysis of
fluid behavior.
– Calculate common fluid properties given
appropriate information.
– Understand and use the continuum concept,
viscosity, vapor pressure and surface tension.
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 What is a fluid?
• Fluid is a substance in the form of gaseous or liquid.
• Fluid deforms continuously under the action of
shearing forces.
• When fluid is at rest, there are no shearing forces
acting. Hence all forces in the fluid will be acting
normal to the surface that they act on.

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• Stress is defined as the
force per unit area.
• Normal component:
normal stress
– In a fluid at rest, the
normal stress is called
pressure
• Tangential component:
shear stress

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 Continuum concept
 Engineering problems are
normally concern with the
bulk behavior of fluids.
 Therefore, fluid is usually
considered as a
continuum, a continuous,
homogeneous matter with
no holes.
 E.g. density of water in a
glass is same at every
point.

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 Units & dimensions
• Any physical quantities can be characterized by
dimensions.
• The magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are called
units.
• Primary dimensions: mass (M), length (L), time (T)
• Other dimensions e.g. velocity (V), energy (E),
volume (V) are expressed in terms of primary
dimensions and are called secondary dimensions or
derived dimensions.

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• Systems of units:
– S. I units: m, kg, s
– C. g. s units: g, cm, s
– British units: lb, ft, s
• All equations must be dimensionally homogenous.
– Every term must have the same unit.

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 Quantity FLT system MLT system English units SI units
Acceleration, a LT-2 LT-2 ft. s-2 m.s-2
Area,A L2 L2 ft2 m2
Density, ρ FL-4T2 ML-3 slug.ft-3 kg.m-3
Energy or FL ML-2T-2 lb.ft N.m
Work, W
Volumetric L3T-1 L3T-1 ft3.s-1 m3.s-1
flow rate, Q
Kinematic L2T-1 L2T-1 ft2.s-1 m2.s-1
viscosity, υ
Pressure, P FL-2 ML-1T-1 lb.in-2 N.m-2
Dynamic FL-2T ML-1T-1 lb.ft-2.s N.m-2.s
viscosity, μ

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Factor by which Prefix Symbol
unit is multiplied
1015 peta P
1012 tera T
109 giga G
106 mega M
103 kilo k
102 hecto h
10 deka da
10-1 deci d
10-2 centi c
10-3 mili m
10-6 micro μ
10-9 nano n
10-12 pico p
10-15 femto f
10-18 atto a
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 Example 1.1
• A commonly used equation for determining the
volumetric flow rate, Q, of a liquid through an orifice
located in the side of a tank is given by,

Q  0.65a 2 gh
Where a is the area of the orifice, g is the
acceleration due to gravity, and h is the height of the
liquid above the orifice. Investigate the dimensional
homogeneity of this equation.

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Unit consistency

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 Fluid properties
• Density
• Specific weight
• Relative density/ specific gravity
• Specific volume
• Dynamic viscosity
• Kinematic viscosity
• Surface tension
• Capillarity
• Vapor pressure
• Compressibility & bulk modulus

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 Density, ρ
• Defined as mass per unit volume.
• Units: kg/ m3
• Dimensions: ML-3
• Typical values: ρwater = 1000 kg/ m3 ,
ρHg = 13 600 kg/ m3
m

V
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 Specific weight, ɣ
• Defined as weight per unit volume.
• Units: N/m3
• Dimensions: LM-2T-2
• Typical values: γwater = 9810 N/ m3

W
   g
V
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 Relative density/ specific gravity, SG
• Defined as ratio of mass density of a substance
to density of water at 40C
• Units: unitless
• Dimensions: M0L0T0 = 1

 substan ce  substan ce
SG  
H O@4 C
2
1000
0

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 Specific volume
• Defined as the reciprocal of mass density.
• Units: m3/kg
• Dimensions: L3M-1

1
V


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 Example 1.2
• The specific gravity of a certain oil is 0.86.
compute its density and specific weight.

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 Example 1.3
• If the specific volume of a certain gas is 0.73
m3/kg, calculate its specific weight.

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Example 1.4 (Munson et. al, 2010)
• The information on a can of pop indicates that
the can contains 355 mL. The mass of a full
can of pop is 0.369 kg while an empty can
weighs 0.153 N. Determine the specific
weight, density and specific gravity of the pop
and compare your results with the
corresponding values for water at 200C.

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 Exercises

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 Munson 1.15
• Water flows from a large drainage pipe at a
rate of 4500 L/ min. What is this volume rate
of flow in m3/s?
• Answer: 7.5 x 10-2 m3/s

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 Munson 1.18
• A tank contains 500 kg of a liquid whose
specific gravity is 2. Determine the volume of
the liquid in the tank.
• Answer: 0.520 m3

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 Munson 1.22
• The density of a certain type of fuel is 775
kg/m3. Determine its specific gravity and
specific weight.
• Answer: 0.775, 7.60 kN/m3

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 Munson 1.29
• If 1 cup of cream having a density of 1005
kg/m3 is turned into 3 cups of whipped cream,
determine the specific gravity and specific
weight of the whipped cream.
• Answer: 0.335, 3290 N/m3

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 Dynamic viscosity, μ
• Defined as the shear force per unit area (shear
stress, τ) needed to drag one layer of fluid with
a unit velocity past another layer a unit
distanes away from it in the fluid.
• Units: Ns/ m2
• Dimensions: ML-1T-1


dv
dy
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 Kinematic viscosity, υ
• Defined as ratio of dynamic viscosity to mass
density
• Units: m2/ s
• Dimensions: L2T-1
• Typical values: υwater = 1.14x10-6 m2s-1




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 Surface tension
• Liquid 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.
• Attractive force on surface molecule is not
symmetric.
• Repulsive forces from interior molecules causes the
liquid to mimize its surface area and attain a spherical
shape.

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 2r  pr 2

pr

2

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 Capillarity
• Among common
phenomena associated
with surface tension is
the capillary effect i.e.
the rise or fall of a
liquid in small-diameter
tube.
• The curved free surface
in the tube is called the
meniscus.
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 Capillarity
• The adhesion between the
wall of the tube and the
liquid molecules is strong
enough to overcome the
cohesion of the molecules
and pull them up the wall.
• Therefore, liquid is
classified as wetting fluid
and the meniscus curves
up.
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 Capillarity
• The cohesion between
the liquid molecules is
greater than the
adhesion to the wall.
• Therefore, liquid is
classified as non-
wetting fluid and the
meniscus curves down.

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 Capillarity
• The height of capillary,

4 cos 
h, is governed by the
surface tension σ, the
h
tube radius R, specific
weight ɣ and the angle
d
of contact θ between
fluid and the tube.

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 Example 1.4 (Munson, 2010)
• When a 2-mm diameter tube is inserted into a
liquid in an open tank, the liquid is observed to
rise 10 mm above the free surface of the liquid.
The contact angle between the liquid and the
tube is zero, and the specific weight of the
liquid is 1.2 x 104 N/m3. Determine the value
of the surface tension for this liquid.

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 Vapor pressure
• If the container is closed with
a small space left above the
surface, and this space
evacuated to form a vacuum,
a pressure will develop in the
space as a result of the vapor
that is formed by escaping
molecules.

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 Vapor pressure
• When an equilibrium
condition is reached so that
the number of molecules
leaving the surface is equal to
the number entering, the vapor
is said to be saturated and the
pressure that the vapor exerts
on the liquid surface is termed
the vapor pressure, pv.

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 Compressibility & bulk modulus
• Bulk modulus – tells how easily can the
volume ( and density) of a given mass of a
fluid can be changed when there is a change in
pressure i.e. how compressible is the fluid.

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 Compressibility & bulk modulus
• For most engineering practice liquid is
considered to be incompressible as
liquid requires greater pressure to affect
a change in volume.
• Units: N/m2
Change in pressure
Bulk modulus 
Volumetric strain
 dV 
dp   K  
 V 

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 Example 1.5 (Munson)
• Estimate the increase in pressure (in kPa)
required to decrease a unit volume of mercury
by 0.1 %

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 Example 1.6 (Munson)
• A 1 m3 volume of water is contained in a rigid
container. Estimate the change in the volume if
the water when a piston applies a pressure of
35 MPa.

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Newton’s law of 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.

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 Newton’s law of viscosity
Viscosity in gases
• Due to the
intermolecular collision
between randomly
moving particles.
• Temperature increases –
intermolecular collision
increases – viscosity
increases.
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Viscosity in liquis
• Due to the
intermolecular cohesion
between the liquid
particles.
• Temperature increases –
intermolecuar cohesion
weakened – viscosity
decreases.
Dynamic (absolute) viscosity of some common fluids as a
function of temperature

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 Newton’s law of viscosity
• Shear stresses are developed when the fluid is moving.
• When fluids come in contact with a solid boundary, the fluids
will adhere to it, therefore will have the same velocity of the
boundary.
• Fluid movement over a solid boundary can be visualized as
layers of fluid moving one above the other.

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 Newton’s law of viscosity
• The velocity of the fluid increases as the
distance from the solid boundary increases.
y

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Newton’s law of viscosity
• To obtain a relation for
viscosity, consider a
fluid layer between two
very large parallel plates
separated by a distance
ℓ
• Definition of shear
stress is
F

A
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 Newton’s law of viscosity
• No-slip condition: u (0)  0
u (l )  v

dv
• Velocity gradient / shear strain :
dy

• Newton’s law of viscosity:  dv 

    
 dy 

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  Torque,
Torque,T  Fr
 Linear velocity,
v  r
 Wetted area,
A  2rl
 Shear stress definition,
du
F  A  A
dy

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 Newton’s law of viscosity
• Newtonian fluids:
Fluids obeying Newton’s law of viscosity and μ has a
constant value.
Shear stress is linearly related to velocity gradient.

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 Newton’s law of viscosity
• Non-newtonian fluids:
Fluids which do not obey the Newton’s law of
viscosity.
• Can be further divided to:
– Plastic
– Pseduo-plastic
– Dilatant substances
– Thixotropic substances
– Rheopectic materials
– Viscoelastic materials

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Shear strain behavior of various fluids

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 Example 1.6
• A rectangular plate of size 3
m by 5 m is placed between
two fixed surfaces as shown
in Figure. The space
between the fixed surfaces
is filled with oil having 45 mm 15 mm
absolute viscosity of 650 x
10-3 Pa.s. If the weight of
the plate can be neglected,
calculate the force required
to pull the plate upward with
a velocity of 2.5 cm/s.

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 Example 1.7 (Bansal, 2003)
• Calculate the dynamic viscosity of
an oil, which is used for
lubrication between a square plate
of size 0.8m x 0.8m and an
inclined plane with an angle of
inclination 300 as in Figure. The
weight of the square plate is 300
N and it slides down the inclined
plane with a uniform velocity of
0.3 m/s. The thickness of oil film
is 1.5 mm.

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 Example 1.8
• Crude oil at 200C fills the space between two
concentric cylinders of diameters 150 mm and 156
mm respectively as shown in the manual page 15,
Figure 1.10. Both cylinders are 250 mm in height. If
the inner cylinder is to be rotated at a constant speed
of 12 rev/min while keeping the outer cylinder
stationary, calculate the torque required. The fluid
properties of the crude oil at 200C are:
– Specific gravity = 0.86
– Kinematic viscosity = 8.35 x 10-6 m2/s

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 Example 1.9
• A vertical gap 25 mm wide of infinite extent
conyains oil of relative density 0.95 and
viscosity 2.4 Pa.s as shown in Figure 1.11 in
manual page 16. A metal plate 1.5 m x 1.5 m x
1.6 mm, weighing 55 N is to be lifted through
the gap at a constant speed of 0.06 m/s.
Determine the force required.

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 Example 1.10
• In Figure 1.15, the total space between
stationary boundaries is 12.7 mm. A plate of
infinite dimensions is pulled upwards between
ethylene glycol fluid on the left-hand side and
propylene glycol fluid on the right-hand side.
Find the lateral position of the plate when it
finds its equilibrium position, if the thickness
of the plate is 0.7937 mm. Given μ1 = 16.2 x
10-3 Ns/m2 and μ1 = 42 x 10-3 Ns/m2
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 Exercises

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 Munson 1.40
• For flowing water, what is the magnitude of
the velocity gradient needed to produce a shear
stress of 1.0 N/m2?
• Answer: 893 s-1

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 Munson 1.57
• A 25 mm diameter shaft is pulled through a
cylindrical bearing as shown in Fig. The
lubricant that fills the 0.3 mm gap between the
shaft and bearing is an oil having a kinematic
viscosity of 8.0 x 10-4 m2/s and a specific
gravity of 0.91. Determine the force P required
to pull the shaft at a velocity of 3 m/s. Assume
the velocity distribution in the gap is linear.

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Answer: 286 N

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 Munson 1.58
• A 10 kg block slides down a smooth inclined
surface as shown in Fig. Determine the
terminal velocity of the block if the 0.1 mm
gap between the block and the surface contains
SAE 30 oil at 150C. Assume the velocity
distribution in the gap is linear, and the area of
the block in contact with the oil is 0.1 m2.

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Review of past semesters’ final
exam questions
Please do your own summarize

The end

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