Properties Of Fluids

In physics or chemistry, there is anything which contains or have mass are called matter.
Matters Are classified in 3 forms these are solids, liquids and gases. These substances are
classified according to the properties of fluids. In general, we can also say that liquids and
gases are fluids. Fluids are the substance which can flow or which have a tendency to flow.

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.

Properties of Fluids

 Density–Density of a fluid is the mass of the fluid per unit volume. Mathematically it
is the ratio of the mass to the volume of the fluids.

The density of gases is dependent on pressure and temperature, while the density of
liquid remains constant.

The density of water is 1000 kg/m3 while density of air is 1.225 kg/m3.

massoffluid
ρ=
volumeoffluid

Ρ = mass of fluid /volume of fluid

 Specific weight-It is the weight of fluids per unit volume. Mathematically, it is the
ratio of the weight to the volume of the fluids.

Specific weight is dependent on acceleration due to gravity as it changes from place to

place. The specific weight of water is 9.81 × 1000 N/m3

weight
w=
volume

Specific weight is denoted by w

SI unit of specific unit N/m3

Temperature

Temperature is one of the thermodynamic properties of fluids that determines the state
of hotness or coldness of it. Temperature is measured in either Kelvin or Celsius or
Fahrenheit. Kelvin is the most common one that is used because of its independence
from the properties of the substance. The following graph clearly depicts the effect of
temperature on fluids.

 Specific gravity– Specific gravity is the ratio of specific weight or mass density of
fluids to the specific weight or mass density of the standard fluids. In the case of liquid
standard, fluids are water whereas in the case of gases standard fluids are air.
 Specific volume-Specific volume of fluid is the volume of fluid per unit weight. It is
the reciprocal of weight density. it’s SI unit is cubic metre per Newton in case of gas
flow specific volume is defined as the volume of fluids per unit mass. In this case, it is
reciprocal of mind mass density and its SI unit are metre cube per kilogram.

Volume
Mass

Specific volume is denoted by v

SI unit of specific volume m3/kg

 Viscosity-It is the resistance offered to a layer of fluids when it moves over another
layer of fluids.

 Surface tension-It is a tensile force acting on the surface of a liquid in contact with air
or between 2 liquids.

The surface tension of water at 100°C is 0.059 N.m-1 and at 0°C it is 0.079 N.m-1.

F
T=
L

CGS unit of surface tension -- Dyne/cm

Viscosity of Fluid:-

The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given [Link]

liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a
higher viscosity than water

Viscosity is defined scientifically as a force multiplied by a time divided by an area.

Thus its SI units are newton-seconds per square meter, or pascal-seconds

Dynamic viscosity is the resistance to movement of one layer of a fluid over another.
The unit of dynamic viscosity is Pascal. Usually, it is measured in centipoise (cP).
Kinematic viscosity is expressed as the ratio of fluid dynamic viscosity to its density.
The unit of measurement of kinematic viscosity is m2/s.
 Compressibility
Compressibility is the change in the volume of a fluid in relation to a unit increase in
pressure. Essentially, compressibility is a measure of how much a fluid will yield to a
given pressure, and is a constant value that is dependent upon the material in question .

Figure 1: Derivation of the customary representation of pressure in physics, P = pgh

from the definition that pressure is the ratio of weight to area.
 Pressure
pressure describes the amount of force (F) distributed over a particular area (A), and is
written as FA. Fluids exert force on materials they are in contact with, and this can be
expressed in terms of pressure. Fluid pressure is customarily expressed in terms of the
density of the fluid, the gravitational constant, and the height below a fluid in which an
object is submerged. This is mathematically written as:
Force
P= Area

P=ρgh,
Unit of pressure --N/m2
where ρ stands for density, g stands for gravity, and h stands for height.
Capillarity refers to how a liquid can rise or fall in a small space that is wet or dry,
and is caused by the intermolecular forces. When the adhesion force between the
 liquid and solid (pipe wall) exceeds the liquid's cohesion, the capillary rise
phenomenon occurs.
Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the
minimum surface area possible. Surface tension is what allows objects with a higher
density than water such as razor blades and insects (e.g. water striders) to float on a
water surface without becoming even partly submerged.

What is compressibility in fluids?

Compressibility is a measure of the relative volume change of a solid or a fluid in response
to a pressure change.
For a given mass of fluid, an increase in pressure, Δp > 0,
will cause a decrease in volume, ΔV < 0.

What characteristics do fluids have?

Fluids, regardless of what they are, all share certain physical properties, such as:
 Shape-shifting: no restorative force that requires them to recover the mass’s original
composition, differentiating them from a malleable solid, which does have restorative forces.
 Molecular dispersion: they can move from one state to another, and due to their fluidity,
this dispersion can be concentrated if an external variable, such as temperature, is applied.
 Density: they can have a higher or lower density depending on the amount of matter in a
fluid’s volume. The density is usually represented in kg/m3.
 Viscosity: this has to do with the resistance that fluids have against being shaped,
thus limiting their fluidity.
 Volume: the space occupied by a fluid in a given space, found with the height, width,
and length. Liquid fluids usually take the shape of their container. Gases, on the other
hand, have no volume or shape, so they will expand as much as possible in the space
containing them.
 Pressure: the force that the fluid’s mass exerts on bodies immersed in it. For instance,
the pressure on a seabed is much higher than on land.
How are fluids classified
 

Important facts-

 A fluid whose density does not change with change in pressure is incompressible.

 Fluids do not oppose deformation and have the ability to take shape of the container.

 Hydrostatic is the branch of physics which deal with properties of fluids in

hydrostatic.

 The normal force exerted by fluids per unit surface area of contact is called pressure of
fluids. Mathematically, it is the ratio of force to area.

 Atmospheric pressure at any point is equal to the weight of a vertical column of air of
unit cross-sectional area starting from that point of extended to the top of earth
atmosphere.

 Atmospheric pressure is maximum on the surface of the earth therefore at sea level
and goes on decreasing as we go above the earth atmosphere.

 There are 2 types of intermolecular forces. One is the cohesive force which is the force
of attraction between molecules of the same substances. While the second one is the
adhesive force which is the force of attraction between molecules of a different
substance.

From the above discussion, we can conclude that flutes are anything which can flow or
deform. There are many physical or chemical properties of fluids are there for example
density, specific weight, surface tension, viscosity and specific volume.

FAQs about Properties of Fluids

Q.1. What is atmospheric pressure?

Answer. The pressure exerted by the atmosphere at a certain point comprises atmospheric
pressure. It is the total weight of the gaseous mass at any given place and time. Atmospheric
pressure is held due to the gravitational pull of the earth.

Q.2. What is surface tension?

Answer. Surface tension is the tensile force acting on the surface of a liquid in contact with
gas or on the surface between 2 immiscible liquids such that the contact surface behaves like
a membrane under tension. Surface tension is different for different liquids.