Class 5 - Teams
Class 5 - Teams
University of Technology
ID#: 1402673
Olando McLaughlin
ID#: 1401817
Table 1: Showing the Oil Types and the Various Parameters of the Cylinder and Sphere Associated with each
Oil Type Temperature Effective Total height Total height Internal Mass of Radius Volume of
of oil/℃ height of of oil before of oil after diameter of sphere/kg of sphere/m3
oil used/m experiment/m experiment/ cylinder/m sphere/
m m
-3
20W-50 26.00 0.3120 0.4120 0.4100 0.07776 5.1646 x 10 0.01105 5.652 x 10-6
10W-30 26.00 0.3110 0.4110 0.4090 0.07748 5.1689 X 10-3 0.01081 5.291 x 10-6
5W-30 25.00 0.3160 0.4160 0.4120 0.07774 5.1260 x 10-3 0.01093 5.470 x 10-6
Table 2: Showing Time Taken For Sphere to Descend 20W-50 Motor Oils at Room Temperature.
Sample Calculation:
Oil Type: 5W-30
[2 𝑔 𝑅 2 (𝑝𝑠 − 𝑝𝑙)𝑡]
Ƞ=
[9 𝐿 (1 + 2.4𝑋)(1 + 1.65 𝑦)]
[2 𝑔 𝑅 2 (𝑝𝑠 − 𝑝𝑙)𝑡]
Ƞ=
[9 𝐿 (1 + 2.4𝑋)(1 + 1.65 𝑦)]
[2 𝑔 𝑅 2 (𝑝𝑠 − 𝑝𝑙)𝑡]
Ƞ=
[9 𝐿 (1 + 2.4𝑋)(1 + 1.65 𝑦)]
Exercise:
Rank the brand motor oils in terms of increasing viscosity:
Base on the results obtained and the viscosities calculated the motor oils in terms of increasing
viscosity are as follows, 10W30, 5W30 and then 20W30. Based on theory however the 5W30
should have the lowest viscosity seen that all oils were tested on at room temperature. The first
number, 5, 10 and 20 in this case, is a measurement of how easily the oil pours at low
temperatures. The lower the number, the thinner it will be in these conditions: therefore a 5 will
be easier to pour than a 10. Hence the 5w30 should have indicated the lowest viscosity, however
it didn’t. Possible due to the fact that the mass of the sphere wasn’t kept constant for all three
oils. The mass of the sphere used for 10W30 was far greater than the mass used for 5W30,
therefore it’s obvious the denser sphere would descend through the oil quicker than the less
dense sphere.
The height at which the sphere was released each time for the 5 trials was difficult to
reproduce hence the sphere fell with different momentums due to the distance it was held
before it was released.
Each time the sphere was retrieved from the cylinder with the oil, some of the fluid was
removed resulting in a reduction in the height of the fluid. Hence for calculating the
viscosity, for the variable L which is the distance the sphere travels the initial height that
was recorded was not the same height after the sphere was dropped and retrieved hence
this would have yielded a slightly incorrect value for the viscosity.
The sphere that was used was not perfectly solid meaning that it had some gaps/holes
within therefore the rate at which it displaced the oil would have been influenced by these
gaps. And all three spheres were different meaning that they had different number of gaps
which resulted in the mass of the spheres been different.
List three ways in which the accuracy of your results could be improved
1. Keeping the mass of the sphere constant, using different size spheres results in the
experiment being flawed. For instance knowing from theory that the 5W30 oil is the
thinnest of all three oils, results obtained during the lab should confirm this theory.
However because less dense sphere was used with this oil it resulted in it having a greater
Running Head: Viscosity
viscosity than the 10W30 which is not true. So keeping the mass of the sphere constant
should increase the accuracy of the experiment.
2. Keeping the height at which the sphere is released constant. Varying the height at which
the sphere is release will result in the sphere having different momentums or reaching
terminal velocity in the oil quicker than it should. The higher the sphere is held the more
energy it possess (potential energy) as this is directly dependent on height. Therefore
keeping the height constant will result in the stored energy remaining constant also, hence
improving the accuracy of the experiment.
3. Instead of using a spoon to retrieve the sphere, a thin piece of string with negligible mass
could be attached to sphere. This string would be long enough to prevent any hindrance
to the sphere as it descends. When the sphere reaches the bottom it would then be raised
by the string. This would prevent too much of the oil from leaving the cylinder therefore
improving the accuracy.
Running Head: Viscosity
Running Head: Viscosity