Kinematic Viscosity

Description

Viscosity is a property arising from collisions between neighboring particles in a fluid that are moving at different velocities. When the fluid is forced through a tube, the particles which comprise the fluid generally move more quickly near the tube’s axis and more slowly near its walls: therefore some stress, (such as a pressure difference between the two ends of the tube), is needed to overcome the friction between particle layers and keep the fluid moving. For the same velocity pattern, the stress required is proportional to the fluid’s viscosity. Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress or extensional stress. The kinematic viscosity is defined as the dynamic viscosity of a fluid divided by its density.