Discussion:

The first experiment aimed to measure the viscosity of 2 different fluids: glycerol, and water.
At first, measurements were taken by a ruler on identical cylinders in order to find their
respective diameters and height. After that, the diameter of both spheres with large and small
diameters were taken while using a caliper in addition to the mass of each sphere. Each sphere
was held tangent to the meniscus and dropped to reach the bottom of the cylinder; meanwhile, a
stop watch was recording the time needed of each sphere to travel to the end of each of the
cylinders containing the respective fluids. Then the spheres were then collected using a magnetic
rod for the big spheres and the small spheres where left in the cylinder. This process was
repeated 2 times in each fluid with both spheres in order to insure the level of accuracy needed
and determine their average.
In this experiment, many errors personal and instrumental errors were encountered. The first
error would be lack of precision since the instruments weren’t graduated, additionally the volume
was not accurate since the fluid as emptied and then refiled every time the ball was dropped.
More importantly, a human error couldn’t be avoided since in some less viscous liquids like
water and ethanol the sphere dropped so quickly that we might have missed the exact time of its
landing; therefore, adding some slight inaccuracies. This error was much less in the case of
glycerol due to its high viscosity thus the speed of the ball was much lower in glycerol than
water and alcohol. However, this error can be slightly reduced by increasing the height of the
liquid so that the team member could stop the time at the exact moment of landing and decrease
the level of inaccuracies. Finally, a height error might have taken place while dropping the
sphere since the sphere is required to be tangent or slightly touching the meniscus; however,
some mistakes could be made by dropping it slightly above the surface of the liquid thus leading
to a change in height.
All these errors have led to a lack of precision in our answer; therefore, the experiment was
repeated 2 times and the average of the trials were taken for each liquid with its respective sphere
and used in order to calculate the viscosity of each fluid.
In order to find the kinematic viscosity of the 2 fluids, the theoretical velocity equation was
equated to the velocity equation of the finite fluid influenced by the boundaries of the container.
The kinematic viscosity of each fluid was then calculated using the following parameters:
diameters, densities of both spheres and cylinders, the average velocity and the height of the
cylinder. Additionally, the dynamic viscosity was deducted from the latter by multiplying the
kinematic viscosity by the density of each fluid.
The experimental results of the small and the big sphere clearly show that the viscosity of
water is less than glycerol. More importantly, the theoretical results conformed the experimental
results.
Regarding the dynamic viscosity, the increasing order viscosities remained the same in both
experiments.
In addition, since the velocity is inversely proportional to time the more fluid the liquid is the
lower its velocity is in a cylinder with constant height. In other word the faster the same ball
travels in the fluid the lower it’s fluidity or ability to resist shear stress. Therefore, glycerol then
water would represent the correct order of increasing velocities since it is indirectly proportional
to the order of increasing viscosities.
 On the other hand, the velocity factor changed between both spheres dropped in the same
fluid. The denser the sphere is the faster it traveled through the fluid and was deposited at the
bottom. Therefore, the more compacted the material is the faster it will pass through the fluid,
the higher its velocity would be.
The second experiment aimed at getting the capillary rise of water found in different tubes
with various diameters and heights. This experiment involved filling a tank containing three
tubes of different diameters with water and measuring the height of the capillary rise. Then the
specific weight and surface tension were given to be able to find the angle formed between the
glass wall of each tube and the meniscus of the fluid.
After the observation, it was concluded that the height of water in each tube was inversely
proportional to the diameter of the tube. When the diameter is smaller, h is higher.
Conclusion:

Experiment1: Falling Ball Viscometer

Viscosity is an essential aspect that helps understand the behavior of fluids in some particular
cases. How much fluid and viscous a liquid is, can be determined in several methods. One of
these methods was applied in this lab experiment and it is based on the velocity of a sphere
traversing the fluid. Evidently, errors in lab experiments remain inevitable, however this method
presented a huge error percent. Obviously, timing is the main reason leading to a high percentage
error in this lab experiment. Therefore, this method is not accurate enough to measure viscosity.
Whatever method is applied, we can always conclude that Glycerol is the most viscous liquid,
ethanol is the second most viscous and finally water is the least viscous liquid.

Experiment2: Capillary-surface tension

The surface tension which acts on all the circumference of the meniscus is only opposed by
2 σcosθ
the weight of the fluid. This led us to conclude the previous formula h= . Theoretically,
γr
at a constant temperature, the fluid’s properties σ and γ are constants, height and radius of the
capillary tubes are indirectly proportional. The theoretical reasoning was verified by the results
of this experiment; the tube with the largest diameter has the lowest height and the one with the
smallest had the highest capillary rise.