CHAPTER 1:

FLUID
PROPERTIES

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this topic, you should be able to:
Define Fluid
State differences between solid and fluid
Calculate common fluid properties:
i. Mass density
ii. Specific weight
iii.Relative density
iv.Dynamic viscosity
v. Kinematic viscosity

INTRODUCTION
Fluid Mechanics

Gas

Liquids

Statics

F 0 F 0
i

Air, He, Ar,

N2, etc.

Compressibility

Density

Water, Oils,
Alcohols,
etc.

Viscosity

Dynamics
i

Stability
Buoyancy
Pressure

, Flows
Compressible/
Incompressible

Surface

Laminar/

Tension

Turbulent

Vapor
Pressure

Steady/Unsteady
Viscous/Inviscid

Fluid Dynamics:
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2: Fluid
Introduction
Statics
Rest of Course
Fluid mechanics
1. study of forces and motions in fluids
3
2. study of how fluids move and the forces on them

Applications of fluid
mechanics
Aerodynamics
Bioengineering and biological systems
Combustion
Energy generation
Geology
Hydraulics and Hydrology
Hydrodynamics
Meteorology
Ocean and Coastal Engineering
Water Resources

History
Archimedes (287-212 B.C.) - calculation of the
hydrostatic buoyancy.
Leonardo da Vinci (1500)-calculation of the mass
conservation, reduction of flow resistance by form
shaping, motion of waves, the hydraulic jump and the
flow turbulence, behavior of free jets and wake flows

 Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647) formulates a mathematical relation for

the friction-free calculation of the efflux of a liquid out from a vessel.
Edme Mariotte (1628-1684) realizes a first test channel for measuring the
resistance of bodies in flows.
Isaac Newton (1643-1727) Flow mechanical processes. Postulates the
fluid resistance to be proportional to the velocity difference. As a
measure for the resistance of normal fluids (water, air) he introduces
the viscosity and flow behavior of a rotating cylinder.
Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) Pressure change and the acceleration of a
fluid, introduces the term hydrodynamics.
Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) derives the basic equation of the friction-free
flow (Bernoulli equation) and introduces the field description that a body
with a friction-free flow around does not offer any resistance to the flow.

Fluid
What is Fluid?
- substance that continually deforms (flows) under an applied
shear stress
- shear stress is the stress component parallel to a given
surface
- consists 2 types, liquids & gases
- examples: air, water, gasoline, lubricating oil and milk

Solid

F

A

Fluid

F
V

A
h

Characteristics of
Fluids
Gas or liquid state
Large molecular spacing relative to
a solid
Weak intermolecular cohesive
forces
Can not resist a shear stress in a
stationary state
Will take the shape of its container
Generally considered a continuum
Viscosity distinguishes different types
of fluids

Liquid & Gases

A liquid takes the shape
of the container it is in
and forms a free surface
in the presence of
gravity
A gas expands until it
encounters the walls of
the container and fills
the entire available
space. Gases cannot
form a free surface
Gas and vapor are often

Solid & Fluids

solid

liquid

gas

Distinction between solid and fluid?

Solid: can resist an applied shear by deforming. Stress is proportional to
strain
Fluid: deforms continuously under applied shear. Stress is proportional to
strain rate

Liquid
further apart spaced
molecules
intermolecular forces are
smaller than for solids
molecules have more
freedom of movement
difficult to compress and
often regarded as being
incompressible
a given mass of liquid
occupies a given volume
and will occupy the
container it is in and form
a free surface (if the
container is of a larger
volume)

Gases

greater molecular spacing

and freedom of motion with
negligible
cohesive
intermolecular forces
easily deformed.
no
fixed
volume,
it
changes volume to expand
to fill the containing vessel.
It will completely fill the
vessel so no free surface
is formed

easily to compress and

usually treated as such - it
changes
volume
with
pressure

Liquids have higher

densities,
viscosities
and refractive indices
than gases due to their
closer molecular spacing

Solid
resistance to
deformation and
changes of volume
atoms or molecules that
compose the solid are
packed closely together
fixed positions in space

Dimensions and Units

Any physical quantity can be characterized by dimensions.
The magnitudes assigned to dimensions are called units.
Primary dimensions include: mass m, length L, time t, and temperature T.
Secondary dimensions can be expressed in terms of primary dimensions
and include: velocity V, energy E, and volume V.
Unit systems include English system and the metric SI (International
System). We'll use both.
Dimensional homogeneity is a valuable tool in checking for errors. Make
sure every term in an equation has the same units.
Unity conversion ratios are helpful in converting units. Use them.

Primary Dimension

Secondary Dimension

Dimensions Associated with

Common Physical Quantities

Properties

Fluid Properties
Density
Specific weight
Specific gravity
Viscosity

Properties of Fluids:
Density
The density of a fluid is defined as mass per
unit volume.
m

v
m = mass, and v = volume.
Different fluids can vary greatly in density
Liquids densities do not vary much with pressure
and temperature
Gas densities can vary quite a bit with pressure and
temperature
Density of water at 4 C : 1000 kg/m3
1
Density
of Air at
4 C : 1.20
kg/m3
Alternatively,
Specific
Volume:

Example 1:
A reservoir of glycerin has a mass of
1200kg and a volume of 0.952 m3. Find the
glycerins weight (W) and mass density ()

F = W = ma
= (1200)(9.81)
= 11770N or 11.77 kN
= m/V
= 1200/0.952
= 1261 kg/m3

Example 2:
A typical mud is 70 wt% sand and 30 wt% water.
What is its density? The sand is practically pure
quartz (SiO2), for which sand = 165lbm/ft3
(2.65g/cm3)

Properties of Fluids: Specific

Weight

The specific weight of fluid is its weight per

g
unit volume.
is the specific weight of the material (weight
per unit volume typically N/m3 units)
is the density of the material (mass per unit
volume, typically kg/m3)
g is acceleration due to gravity (rate of change
of velocity, given in m/s2)
Specific weight characterizes the weight of the
fluid system
Specific weight of water at 4 C : 9.80 kN/m
Specific weight of air at 4 C : 11.9 N/m

Example 3:
A reservoir of glycerin has a mass of
1200kg and a volume of 0.952 m3. Find the
specific weight ().

 = (m/V ). g
= mg/V = ma/V
W = ma
= W/V
= 11.77kN/0.952 m3
= 12.36 kN/m3

Properties of Fluids: Specific

Gravity
The specific gravity of fluid is the ratio of
the density of the fluid to the density of
water @ 4 C.

SG

H 2O

Gases have low specific gravities

A liquid such as Mercury has a high specific gravity, 13.2
The ratio is unitless.
Density of water at 4 C : 1000 kg/m

Example 4:
If the density of iron is 7850 kg/m3, 7.85 grams per
cubic centimeter (cm3), 7.85 kilograms per liter, or
7.85 metric tons per cubic meter - the specific
gravity of iron is:
SG = (7850 kg/m3) / (1000 kg/m3)
= 7.85
water density is 1000 kg/m3

Viscosity
Procedure: Spoon out some water and turn the
spoon sideways. Almost all of the water quickly
flows off the spoon. Try the same thing with
honey. The honey moves very slowly, doesn't it?

Explanation: Honey has a much greater viscosity

than water. Viscosity is a measure of how strongly
the molecules in a particular fluid stick together.
Its easy to see that the honey molecules want to
stay together more than the water molecules do.

Viscosity
The properties of density and specific weight are
measures of the heaviness of a fluid
These properties are not sufficient to uniquely
characterize how fluids behave since two fluids
can have approximately the same value of density
but behave quite differently when flowing
Viscosity, , is the property of a fluid, due to
cohesion and interaction between molecules
Fluid with high viscosity such as syrup, deforms
more slowly than fluid with low viscosity such as
water

A shear stress is applied to the top of the square while the bottom is
held in place. This stress results in a strain, or deformation, changing
the square into a parallelogram.

Strain is a measure of how much a given displacement differs locally from

a rigid-body displacement.
Shear strain is a strain that acts parallel to the surface of a material that it
is acting on
Shear stress is defined as a stress which is applied parallel or tangential
to a face of a material

Viscosity

The shearing force F

acts on the area on the
top of the element.This
area is given by A = z x
x
Thus, the shear stress
is equal to force per unit
area
shear stress,
=F/A

The deformation which

this shear stress causes
is measured by the size
ofshear
the stress
angle
In a solid shear strain, , is constant for a fixed
. and is
known
asflows.
In a fluid, increases for as long as is applied
- the fluid
Fluid element under a shear force

Viscosity: Dynamic
viscosity

Shear stress can be expressed in linear

relationship:

is called the absolute viscosity, dynamic

viscosity, or simply the viscosity of the fluid.

The viscosity depends on the particular fluid, and

for a particular fluid the viscosity is also
dependent on temperature.

In the SI system, the dynamic viscosity units are

N s/m2, Pa s or kg/m s where

du

dy

1 Pa s = 1 N s/m2 = 1 kg/m s

Also expressed in the metric CGS (centimetergram-second) system as g/cm.s, dyne.s/cm2 or

poise (p) where

1 poise = dyne s/cm2 = g/cm s = 1/10 Pa s

Viscosity: Kinematic
Viscosity

Kinematic viscosity is frequently used to represent

viscosity
Defined as the ratio of dynamic viscosity to
density
Used in the flow equations
The units: cSt, m2/s and ft2/s
Typical values:
Water =1.14 x10-6 m2 s-1 , Air =1.46 x10-5 m2 s-1,
Mercury =1.145 x10-4 m2 s-1,

Example 1:
The density of an oil is 850 kg/m3. Find its relative
density and kinematic viscosity if the dynamic
viscosity is 5 x 10-3 kg/ms.