Viscosity Essay

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1.1 Title: Investigating Viscosity 1.2 Research Question: How does varying the temperature (15 C, 30 C, 45 C, 60 C, 75 C) of 300cm^3 of cooking oil affect its viscosity, calculated by measuring the average velocity of a steel ball weight of 5g, falling through a 300cm^3 glass tube (25 cm in length)? 1.3 Scientific background: The intermolecular forces between the liquid molecules affect the viscosity of a liquid. As temperature increases, the intermolecular forces are weakening and some of them are overcome. Thus, the viscosity of cooking oil will decrease with an increase in temperature. As the liquid is more viscous, the ball weight would be experiencing more resistance in its motion and would thus have a lower average velocity. 1.4 Variables: 1.5.1 Independent variable: The temperature of cooking oil temperature (15 C, 30 C, 45 C, 60 C, 75 C) 1.5.2 Dependent variable: The average velocity of the steel ball weight (5g) 1.5.3 Controlled variables: These are the variables I need to control: | This is how I will control them: | 1. Volume of cooking oil | Use the same 50cm^3 pipette to measure the 300cm^3 of coking oil for each trial. | 2. Temperature of cooking oil | Use a heated or iced water bath to heat or cool the cooking oil to an equilibrated temperature | 1.5.4 Uncontrolled variables These are the variables that are uncontrolled: | This is how the uncontrolled variables affect the results: | 1. The loss or gain of heat of cooking oil to the surroundings and the room temperature | The viscosity measured for the liquid at a certain temperature would be inaccurate. A high room temperature would mean that the lower temperature cooking oil gains heat. A low room temperature would mean that the cooking oil of a higher temperature would lose heat. Heating the 45 C, 60 C, and 75 C cooking oil to a

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