Properties of Fluid

Definition of Fluids

A substance which is capable of flowing and deform continuously under the shared stress. Fluids
are a subset of the phases of matter and include liquid and gases. Fluids is a substance which
deforms continuously under action of external force. These are the substance which cannot resist the
shear force ( force causing the change in shape) applied to them. Air, water, toothpaste, molten lava
etc. A fluid flows under the action of force or pressure.

The study of fluids can be into 2 parts. These are as follows:

1. Fluids statics– It is the mechanism of fluids at rest or non-motion and the pressure in fluids
exerted by fluids on anybody.
2. Fluids dynamic -Fluids dynamics mechanism of fluids that describe the flow of fluids at
motion. It has several parts or we can say several areas including aerodynamics which is the
study of air and other gases in motion and one is hydrodynamics which can be expressed as
the study of liquid in motion.

Fluids can be classified based on the following properties:

 Viscosity
 Conductivity
 Density
 compressible or not.

Common types of Fluids based on Viscosity:

Fluids are separated in five basic types
1. Ideal Fluid
2. Real Fluid
3. Newtonian Fluid
4. Non-Newtonian Fluid
5. Ideal Plastic Fluid

1. Ideal Fluid:
An Ideal Fluid is a fluid which is incompressible in nature and that has no viscosity. In practical,
no fluid is ideal fluid because all the fluids have some viscosity. Thus, it is also called as
Imaginary Fluid.
2. Real Fluid:
Real fluids are the fluids which have some viscosity and are compressible in nature. All the
fluids in actual are real fluids.
Examples: Kerosene, Petrol, Castor oil
3. Newtonian Fluid:
Newtonian fluids are the fluids that obey Newton’s law of viscosity. In other words, a real fluid
whose shear stress is directly proportional to the rate of shear strain is known as Newtonian
Fluid. For a Newtonian fluid, viscosity totally depends upon the temperature and pressure of the
fluid.
Examples: water, air, emulsions, Hydrogen
Main characteristics:
 Newtonian fluids do not have any elastic properties.
 They are incompressible, isotropic and unreal.
 Viscosity is temperature dependant,
 Viscosity further depends on the various pressures at
which it is found.
 At a fixed temperature, their viscosity remains constant.
 With the increase in the temperature of a fluid,
the viscosity decreases.
 The viscosity of this type of fluid is inversely
proportional to the increase in its temperature.
 The Newtonian fluid was named after Sir Isaac Newton,
who defined it as a viscous flow.
 They comply with Newton’s law of viscosity.
4. Non-Newtonian Fluid:
Non-Newtonian fluids are the fluids that do not obey Newton’s law of viscosity. In other words,
a real fluid in which shear stress is not directly proportional to the rate of shear strain is known as
Non-Newtonian Fluid.
Examples: , Oobleck

Non-Newtonian fluids can further be classified as:

1. Time Dependent Fluids: These fluids are the ones for whose shear stress or viscosity
decreases with time due to isothermal conditions and steady shear are known
as Thixotropic and those that increase with time under same circumstances are known
as Rheopectic or Anti-thixotropic.
2. Time Independent Fluids: These fluids are the ones for which the rate of shear at a given
point depends on the instantaneous shear stress at that point. These are also known as Non-
Newtonian viscous fluids or Purely viscous fluids.
These fluids are further of two types:

 Fluids with yield stress

 Fluids without yield stress: These also have two kinds-
 Pseudoplastic Fluids
 Dilatant Fluids

5. Ideal Plastic Fluid:

Ideal plastic fluid is a fluid, the shear stress is proportional to the rate of shear strain and in which
shear stress is more than the yield value, is known as ideal plastic fluid.

The main properties of fluids are listed below:-

1. Density
2. Viscosity
3. Temperature
4. Pressure
5. Specific Volume
6. Specific Weight
7. Specific Gravity
8. Surface Tension
9. Vapour Pressure
10. Capillarity
11. Cavitation

1 Density :-
Density is the mass per unit volume of a fluid. In other words,
The density of a substance is not necessarily constant throughout the volume of a substance.
In general, the density of fluid can not be uniform throughout the fluid.

2. Viscosity:-
Viscosity is the fluid property that determines the amount of resistance of fluid to shear stress.
A fluid which has no resistance to shear stress is known as an inviscid fluid.
Due to this property fluid offers resistance to flow of one layer of fluid over another adjacent
layer.

3. Temperature:
Temperature is the fluid property that gives the measure of hotness or coolness of a fluid or
measure of heat intensity of a fluid.
It is generally measured using a device called thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales.

The most common scales of temperatures are :-

i) Celcius Scale (Denoted by °C )
ii) Fahrenheit Scale ( Denoted by °F )
iii) Kelvin Scale ( Denote by K )

Kelvin scale is predominantly used for scientific purposes by convections of the International
System of Units. Kelvin scale is used for scientific purposes as it does not depend on the
properties of a substance.

4. Pressure :
Fluid Pressure is most often the compressive stress at some point within a fluid.
Fluid pressure occurs in two situations:-
i) Open Condition (also called open channel flow) e.g the ocean, a swimming pool, atmosphere
(for gas ), etc
ii) Closed Condition e.g a water line or gas line

Pressure in open condition usually can be approximated as the presence in static or non-moving
conditions as motion creates negligible change in pressure.
The pressure at any given point of a non-moving (static) fluid is called the hydrostatic pressure.
5. Specific Volume-
Specific Volume is defined a the ratio of material’s volume to its mass. It is the reciprocal of the
density of material.
Specific Volume is inversely proportional to density.

The standard unit of specific volume is cubic meters per kilogram ( m3 /kg ).

It is an intrinsic property of matter. The intrinsic property does not depend on the sample size.
Also, it is an intensive property that means it is unaffected by how much of a substance exists or
where it was sampled.

6. Specific Weight:-
Specific Weight of a fluid is defined as the weight per unit volume. It is denoted by γ (the Greek
letter Gamma). Its SI unit is N/m3.

Specific weight is related to density,

γ = ρg
where,

γ = Specific Weight
ρ = Density
g = acceleration due to gravity.

The specific weight of fluid varies with temperature.

7. Specific Gravity:-
Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the specific weight of the given fluid to the specific
weight of standard fluid. It is also known as relative density. It is denoted by letter ‘S’. It has no
unit.
8 Surface Tension:-
Surface Tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces to shrink in minimum surface area. Surface
tension is caused by cohesive forces between the liquid molecules.
At liquid-air interfaces, surface tension is caused due to greater attraction of liquid molecules to
each other as compared to the attraction between the air and liquid molecules.
Due to surface tension, many insects like water sliders can float and slide on the water surface
despite being denser than water.

9. Vapour Pressure:-
The vapor pressure of a liquid is the equilibrium pressure of a vapor above its liquid .
The vapor pressure of a liquid varies with temperature. As the temperature increases,the vapor
pressure also increases.
Vapor pressure of a liquid can be measured in a variety of ways. A simple measurement involves
injecting a little of the liquid into a closed flask connected to a manometer.

10. Capillarity:-
Capillarity is the ability of a liquid to flow in small passages such as a tube of small cross-
sectional area. A liquid can flow in narrow passages without the assistance of external force like
gravity. It can flow in narrow passages even in opposition to gravity.

11 Cavitation:-
Cavitaion is the process of formation of vapor bubbles or vapor filled cavities of a flowing liquid
in a region where the pressure of the liquid falls below the vapour pressure and collapsing of
these vapour bubbles in a region of high pressure.