CE 320: FLUID MECHANICS

Lesson 1
Fundamental Properties of Fluids
Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this lesson, you are able to;

1. Describe the physical properties of a fluid.
2. Employ capillary principle to calculate capillary rise/fall in a given tube.
3. Define mass density, specific weight and weight density.
4. Understand the difference between kinematic and absolute viscosities.

Time Frame: 2 weeks

Introduction

Both liquids and gases as fluid, are characterized by their continuous

deformation when a shear force, however small, is applied. The basic difference of
liquids and gases is their relative incompressibilities and its ability to fill a confining
container. In the application of liquid in hydraulic system such as in power
generation, a better knowledge of its characteristics is very essential. The purpose
of this chapter is to describe and define fundamental properties of fluids and apply
the basic principles of fluid mechanics to solve practical problems.

Before we start with our discussions, I would like you to

prepare at least a glass of three different liquid. It could be
a dishwashing liquid, an oil, a vinegar, a saltwater or any
liquid readily available. For each liquid drop a small pebble
(marble is recommended) and observe the time it reaches
to the bottom of each liquid. Take note also the path it travels when it sink
down to the bottom. Next, get a block of wood or any object that floats. Put
it in each of the liquid. Write down all your observations. Do not forget to
take photos or videos in each activity. Submit them with your observations
through any ways mentioned in the syllabus or as agreed by not later than
2nd week after the class started.

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Base on the lists you wrote in the preceding activity,

answer the following questions. Submit your
answers through any means mentioned in the
syllabus or as agreed upon not later than 2 nd week
after the class started.

1. Which liquid is the most viscous? Why?

Answer:__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
___________.

2. In which set up does the block displaced the most liquid? Why?
Answer:__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
___________.

3. What do you know about surface tension? Cite an example of an event

that describe or apply the surface tension.
Answer:__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
___________.

4. If you raise the temperature of the liquid in the activity you just had
performed, will your observations differ? Explain.
Answer:__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
___________.

5. Have you ever wonder how the water from the soil rise up to the
branches, leaves and fruits of trees? Explain in the context of fluid
mechanics?
Answer:__________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
___________.

To understand more about the properties of fluid, let us proceed

to our proper lessons

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Fluid Mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids at rest or in
motion. Traditionally, it has been applied in such area as
the design of pumps, compressor, design of dam and
canal, design of piping and ducting in chemical plants, the
aerodynamics of airplanes and automobiles. In recent years fluid mechanics is truly
a ‘high-tech’ discipline and many exciting areas have been developed like the
aerodynamics of multi-storey buildings, fluid mechanics of atmosphere, sports, and
micro fluids.

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/103308 http://www.orangesmile.com
7
(a) DA’s diversion dam in Caraga (b) San Roque Dam in
Pangasinan

https://www.farandwide.com/s/worlds-tallest-
buildings

(c) Shanghai Tower with aerodynamics design

Figure 1.1 Some of the Fluid Mechanics Applications in Civil Engineering

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FLUIDS

A fluid is a substance that deforms continuously under the action of a shear

force. A fluid may be a liquid or a gas; it offers resistance to a change of shape and
is capable of flowing. Liquid and gas are distinguished as follows:
Gas Liquid
-completely fills the space in which it is -usually has a free surface
contained
-a fluid which can be compressed -can be compressed only with
relatively easily and is often treated as difficulty.
such

Dimensions and Units

Dimension - is the measure by which a physical variable is expressed
quantitatively.
Unit - is a particular way of attaching a number to the quantitative
dimension

Table 1.1 Commonly Used Units in Fluid Mechanics

http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/kinnas/319LAB/notes13/units_ce319f_kinnas.pdf

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SPECIFIC VOLUME, UNIT WEIGHT OR SPECIFIC WEIGHT, SPECIFIC

GRAVITY AND SPECIFIC DENSITY

Specific Properties

Intensive - Independent of the mass of a Extensive - depend on the size or extent of

system (Upper case letters except mass)) the system (lowercase letters except P & T)

Total Total Total

Density Pressure Temperatu mass Volume Momentum
re

Density and specific weight

The density ρ (rho) or mass density or specific density of a fluid is its
mass per unit volume, while the specific weight γ (gamma) is its weight per
unit volume.

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 (𝑀)
𝜌=
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝑉)

Unit; kg/m3

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑊) 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑥 𝑔 (𝑀𝑔)

𝛾= = =𝜌𝑔
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝑉) 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝑉)

Unit; N/m3

Typical values are of densities are;

• Water: 1000 kg/m3
• Mercury: 13546 kg/m3
• Air: 1.23 kg/m3;
• Paraffin: 800 kg/m3

Specific volume
Specific volume ν is the volume occupied by a unit mass of fluid. It is
simply the reciprocal of mass density and commonly apply to gases.

1
𝑣=
𝜌

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Specific Gravity
Specific gravity s is the ratio of density of the fluid to the density of a
𝜌𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑
standard fluid; 𝒔𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 = 𝜌
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑

𝜌𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
𝒔𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 =
𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒

VISCOSITY (ABSOLUTE VISCOSITY)

A glass ball dropped in a bottle of

https://bmsit.ac.in/system/study_materials/documents/0
00/000/015/original/FM_UNIT1_3sem.pdf?1477068128
oil has slower downward movement than
when it is dropped in water. It seems that
there is an internal resistance of a fluid to
motion. The property that represents this
resistance is what we call the viscosity of
the fluid. 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 (refer
Fig 1.2)

Figure 1.2 Fluid moving relative to the body

As illustrated in the photo at the right, with the assumption of the same
velocities, the drag force exerted by the air to the bird is much lesser than the drag
force exerted by the water to the fish, partly because of the viscosity.

This property of fluid is similar to the friction Exerted by two contacting solid
bodies. Viscosity is the property by virtue of which fluid offers resistance against
the flow or shear deformation.

https://bmsit.ac.in/system/study_materials/documents/000/000/015/original/FM_UNIT1_3sem.pdf?1477068128

Table 1.2 Density and viscosity of common gases and liquids at 20°C and
1 atm

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https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2832417&seqNum
=4

Fig 1.3 (a) Fluid in shear between parallel plates; (b) linear velocity
profile
The velocity u of the fluid to the right is found experimentally to vary
linearly from zero at the lower plate (y = 0) to V itself at the upper plate, as in Fig.
1.3(b), corresponding to no-slip conditions at each plate. At any distance y from
the lower plate to the upper plate, the velocity is simply;

𝑦
𝑢= 𝑉
ℎ

For Newtonian’s fluids, the shear stress is directly proportional to the

velocity gradient;

𝑑𝑢 𝑉 𝐹
𝜏 = 𝜇 𝑑𝑦 = 𝜇 ℎ but 𝜏= 𝐴

Where 𝜏 is the tangential stress per unit area, A and 𝜇 is the viscosity,
then;

𝜏ℎ 𝐹ℎ
𝜇= =
𝑉 𝐴𝑉
Unit; g/cm s (poise)

Kinematic Viscosity
The kinematic viscosity ν is the ratio of the viscosity to the density.

𝜇
𝑣=
𝜌
Unit; cm2/s (stoke)

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Surface Tension
Surface tension is the tendency of the surface of a liquid to behave like a
stretched elastic membrane. Water droplets from rain or dew hang from branches
or leaves of trees often observed to behave like small spherical balloons filled with
the liquid and the surface of the liquid acts like a stretched elastic membrane under
tension. Surface tension is the magnitude of the pulling forces acting parallel to the
surface of the droplet. This is due to the attractive forces between the molecules
of the liquid.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/surface-
tension-definition-causes-measurement- https://www.quora.com/Why-do-insects-float-
https://www.dreamstime.com/photo formula.html on-water-according-to-the-concept-of-surface-
s-images/blood-glass.html tension

(a) Blood droplets on glass (b) water droplets on leaves (c) insect floats on water

Fig. 1.4 Examples of surface tensions

Pressure inside a droplet/ bubbles

T = σ.π.
d P = p.π
d2/4

(a (b (c
) ) )

https://bmsit.ac.in/system/study_materials/documents/000/000/015/original/FM_UNIT1_3sem.pdf?1477068
128

Fig. 1.5 Surface tension and internal pressure of water droplet and soap
bubbles

Consider a small spherical droplet of a liquid in fig 1.5 (a) above and let;
σ = the surface tension of the liquid
p = pressure intensity inside the droplet (in excess of the outside
pressure intensity)
d = Diameter of the droplet

Let the droplet then cut into halves (fig 1.5 (b)) to expose the surface tension
and the internal pressure (c). The forces acting on one half (say on left half) will be
the surface tension acting around the circumference of the cut portion as shown
(b) and the inside pressure. Under equilibrium, the two forces will become;

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∑𝑭𝒙 = 𝟎 ; 𝑻−𝑷=𝟎

𝒑. 𝝅. 𝒅𝟐
𝝈. 𝝅. 𝒅 − =𝟎
𝟒

𝟒𝝈
𝒑=
𝒅
In cases where two surfaces on which surface tensions can act like hollow
soap bubbles, the formula become;
𝟖𝝈
𝒑=
𝒅
Capillarity
Capillary effect is the rise or fall of a liquid in a small-diameter tube inserted
into the liquid. It is a consequence of surface tension.

https://multidict.net/clilstore/page.php?id=51 http://informatics.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/Brooke_Jacobs/introduction.h
97 tml
(a) Colored water and tissue paper (b) rise of water to the top of tall trees

Fig. 1.6 Real life example of capillary effects

Franzini, J. B., Finnemore, E. J., & Daugherty, R. L.

(1997)

Fig. 1.7 Capillary rise

A cross section through capillary rise in a tube looks like Fig. 2.8. From free-
body considerations, equating the lifting force created by surface tension to the
gravity force,

2𝜋𝑟𝜎𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝜋𝑟 2 ℎ𝛾

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So;
2𝜎𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
ℎ= 𝛾𝑟

Where;
𝜎 - surface tension (sigma) in units of force per unit length
𝜃 - wetting angle (theta)
𝛾 - specific weight of liquid
𝑟 - radius of tube
ℎ - capillary rise

Compressibility and Bulk Modulus

Basically, all materials are compressible, whether solids, liquids or gases
when force is applied uniformly all over its surface. The relationship between the
changed of volume of a certain material when the applied force over its changes is
depend on the bulk modulus of the material.

Bulk modulus (K) = (change in pressure) / (volumetric strain)

Volumetric strain is the change in volume divided by the original volume.

Therefore,
(Change in volume) / (original volume) = (change in pressure) / (bulk
modulus)
∆𝑝
𝐾=
∆𝑉
− 𝑉

Negative sign for V indicates the volume decreases as pressure increases.

PRESSURE DISTURBANCES
Consider a certain volume of fluid that is subjected to a force on its
boundary. Then the force applied on the unit fluid area is termed as pressure. It is
evaluated as the ratio of the applied force on the liquid to the area of the force
application.

Force (F)
𝑷ressure (P) = Area (A)

Pressure disturbance emerges as a result of bulk modulus or

compressibility of the fluid. For a flow of fluid with high bulk modulus, the pressure
required to compress the fluid is large for a considerable variation in density. For a
compressible flow, small pressure disturbances emerge and propagate along with
the fluid flow at a finite velocity.
The pressure disturbance in the fluid transmits as sound and the velocity at
which the pressure disturbance is transmitted is termed as sound velocity (c).

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Express velocity of pressure disturbance in terms of pressure and density

of the fluid.
dp
c= √
dρ
Where;
C = sound velocity (pressure disturbance)

Unit; m/s

Example 1.1
A certain gas weighs 16.0 N/m3 at a certain temperature and pressure.
What are the values of its density, specific volume, and specific gravity relative to
air weighing 12.0 N/m3.
Solution:
For density;
𝜸 𝟏𝟔 𝑵/𝒎𝟑
𝝆 = 𝒈 = 𝟗.𝟖𝟏 𝒎/𝒔𝟐 = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟑𝒌𝒈/𝒎𝟑 answer

For specific volume;

𝟏 𝟏
𝒗 = 𝝆 = 𝟏.𝟔𝟑𝒌𝒈/𝒎𝟑 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟏 𝒎𝟑 /𝒌𝒈 answer

For specific gravity;

𝝆𝒈𝒂𝒔 𝟏𝟔 𝑵/𝒎𝟑
𝒔𝒈𝒂𝒔 = = = 𝟏. 𝟑𝟑 answer
𝝆𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝟏𝟐𝑵/𝒎𝟑

Example 1.2
A 1-in-wide space between two horizontal plane surfaces is filled with SAE
30 Western lubricating oil at 80°F with 𝜇 = 0.0063 lb.sec/ft2 as shown in fig. E1.
What force is required to drag a very thin plate of 4-ft2 area through the oil at a
velocity of 20 ft/min if the plate is 0.33 in from one surface?
Solution;
Viscosity is;
𝐹ℎ
𝜇= 𝐴𝑉

so, https://www.mhhe.com/engcs/civil/finnemore
/graphics/ch02.pdf
𝜇𝐴𝑉
𝐹= ℎ
Fig. E1
Force required to drag the plate above it; (𝜏1)
𝑓𝑡 1 𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝜇𝐴𝑉 (0.0063 𝑙𝑏. 𝑠𝑒𝑐/𝑓𝑡 2 )(4 𝑓𝑡 2 )(20 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑥 60 𝑠𝑒𝑐 )
𝐹1 = =
ℎ 1 𝑓𝑡
0.33 𝑖𝑛 𝑥
12 𝑖𝑛
= 0.305 𝑙𝑏
Force required to drag the plate above it; (τ 2)

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𝑓𝑡 1 𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝜇𝐴𝑉 (0.0063 𝑙𝑏. 𝑠𝑒𝑐/𝑓𝑡 2 )(4 𝑓𝑡 2 )(20 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑥 60 𝑠𝑒𝑐 )
𝐹2 = = = 0.15 𝑙𝑏
ℎ 1 𝑓𝑡
0.67 𝑖𝑛 𝑥 12 𝑖𝑛

The total force required to drag the plate is;

𝐹 = 𝐹1 + 𝐹2 = 0.305 𝑙𝑏 + 0.15 𝑙𝑏 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟓𝟓 𝒍𝒃 answer
Example 1.3
Water at 10°C stands in a clean glass tube of 2-mm diameter at a height of
35 mm. What is the true static height? At 10°C, use 𝛾 = 9810 𝑁/𝑚3 and 𝜎 =
𝑁
0.0742 𝑚.
Solution;
For clean glass, 𝜃 = 0
𝑵
𝟐𝝈𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 𝟐(𝟎.𝟎𝟕𝟒𝟐 )(𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝟎)
𝒎
ℎ= = 1 = 0.0151𝑚 𝑜𝑟 15.1 𝑚𝑚
𝜸𝒓 (9810𝑁/𝑚3 )( )
1000

The true static height would be;

True static height = 35 mm – 15.1 mm = 19.9 mm answer

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To test your memory and understanding about our

lesson, answer the following; Write your answers in any
paper, take a picture or scan it then send to me through
any platform available to you as stated in the syllabus not
later than 2nd week after the classes start.

Problem Solving. Solve the following problems.

1. Two liquids have specific volumes of v 1 and v2. If v1 < v2, write an
expression that represent the relation between their mass densities ρ1
and ρ2.
2. You tried to float a paperclip in a basin of water. Put the paperclip on a
piece of tissue paper and you carefully place it onto the surface of the
water. Using a pencil, you slowly push the tissue underwater but the
paperclip left floating. Using the concept discussed in this chapter,
explain why.
3. Two vessels, A and B, are partly filled with water and closed. The volume
of A is half that of B, and it contains twice the amount of water in B. If
both are at the same temperature, what will be the ratio of the pressure
of the water vapour in the vessel?
4. Pure water at 50°F stands in a glass tube of 0.04-in diameter at a height
of 6.78 in. Compute the true static height.
5. At a depth of 4 miles in the ocean the pressure is 9520 psi. Assume that
the specificweightatthesurfaceis64.00lb/ft3 and that the average volume
modulus is 320,000psi for that pressure range. (a)What will be the
change in specific volume between that at the surface and at that depth?
(b) What will be the specific volume at that depth?(c)What will be the
specific weight at that depth?(d)What is percentage change in the
specific volume? (e) What is the percentage change in the specific
weight?
6. A space 16 mm wide between two large plane surfaces is filled with SAE
30 Western lubricating oil at 80°F. What force F is required to drag a
very thin plate of 0.4 m2 area between the surfaces at a speed v = 0.25
m/s (a) if the plate is equally spaced between the two surfaces, and (b)
if t = 5 mm?
7. A liquid has an absolute viscosity of 3.2 x 104 lb.sec/ft2. It weighs 56
lb/ft3. What are its absolute and kinematic viscosities in SI units?
8. A fried egg of mass 65g sits in a frying pan with a 0.5mm layer of cooking
oil between it and the pan surface. If the oil has a viscosity of 0.05
N.s/m2, then how fast will the egg slide across the pan if the pan is tipped
to an angle of 20°. Assume that the egg is flat on the underside, and is
approximately circular with a diameter of 12cm and neglect edge effects.

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Congratulations everyone, you did it!!! I know you

have started to like our course and very excited for
our next lessons. Let us start fluid statics with the
discussion of the principle of hydrostatic pressure.

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