JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Engineering & Technology

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

INSTRUCTION SHEET

HYDRAULIC & FLUID MECHANICS LABORATORY EXPERIMENT NO. 3

VERIFICATION OF STOKES LAW

OBJECT OF THE EXPERIMENT:

(a) To determine the drag coefficient of a sphere and to verify Stokes Law
(b) To determine the coefficient of viscosity of a liquid by ‘Falling Sphere Method’

APPARATUS USED:
Vertical tube filled with liquid, stopwatch, sphere body, micrometer etc.

THEORY: When a body moves through viscous fluid (or viscous fluid flows past the body) with a constant
velocity, the body experiences a resistive force against its motion, known as drag force. According to the Stokes
law, the drag force (D) experienced by a spherical body of diameter d (=2a) when it moves with a steady uniform
velocity (U) through a viscous fluid (of coefficient of viscosity, µ) is D = 6πµaU.
This valid for small Reynolds number (Re) of the flow. Again, it can be expressed in terms of drag coefficient,
24
CD, where CD= .
𝑅𝑒
This is often known as Stokes Law.
When a spherical body moves vertically downward (as in this experiment) it is possible to determine the
2𝑎2
coefficient of viscosity by determining the terminal velocity U where µ= (𝛾𝑆 -𝛾𝐿 ), 𝛾𝑆 and 𝛾𝐿 refer to the
9𝑈
specific weights of the material of the body and fluid, respectively.

PROCEDURE:
Drop a ball into the castor oil filled vertical tube through the guide.
Start one stopwatch when the ball just passes the top mark, then stop when it crosses the bottom mark.
Note down the time to travel the distance between the marks.
Repeat the experiment three times using different sizes of the balls. Remove the balls by opening the cock at the
bottom of the tube.
Measure the diameters of the balls by manometer.

OBSERVATION:
Distance between the marks L= 1(meter)
Temperature of the liquid= 32(℃)
𝛾𝑆 = 𝑆𝑝. 𝑤𝑡. 𝑜𝑓 the material of the ball: 77106.6 (N/m2)
𝛾𝐿 = Sp.wt. the liquid: 9339.12 (N/m2)
µ of the liquid = 3.94(Poise): 0.394 (Pa.s)
ρ of the liquid: 952 (kg/m2)
µ
ⱱ ( = ) of the liquid: 0.000414 (m2/s)
𝜌
 Run No. Diameter of the Stopwatch reading, t 𝐿
Terminal velocity, U=
𝑡
spherical ball (sec) (m/s)
(inch)
1 1/12 20.88 0.0479

2 1/8 13.00 0.0769

3 3/16 6.22 0.1608

TABLE –A
RESULTS:

Run Radius of ball, Terminal 𝑎 𝑎 24 8 𝑎

Re=2U( ⱱ ) CD=𝑅𝑒 CD=3.𝜌𝑈2 (𝛾𝑆 – 𝛾𝐿 )
No. a velocity,U ⱱ
(theo.) (exp.)
(m) (m/s)
1 0.001058335 0.0479 2.56 0.245248 97.86 87.559

2 0.0015875 0.0769 3.83 0.589054 40.74 50.958

3 0.00238125 0.1608 5.75 1.8492 12.98 17.482

Note: The values of µ and ρ are to be taken from the standard table corresponding to the temperature of the
fluid

TABLE-B
For determination of viscosity, µ.

Run No. Radius of Sphere Terminal velocity,U 2𝑎2 µ=

2𝑎2
(𝛾𝑆 Mean µ
9𝑈
(meter) (m/s) 9𝑈 -𝛾𝐿 ) (cp)
(Pa.s)
1 0.001058335 0.0479 5.196×10−6 0.352

2 0.0015875 0.0769 7.283×10−6 0.494

0.423
3 0.00238125 0.1608 (the
corresponding Re of this ___ ___
terminal velocity is
greater than 1. The
velocity is not
acceptable)
Note: Take only those values of the terminal velocity which corresponding to Re<1.

DISCUSSION:
Validity of the Stokes Law
1. “Stokes law” is valid when reynolds number is less than 1
2. Stokes’ equation is invalid if the density difference in the equation is negative or when particles are lighter
than the medium
3. Experimental particle should have smooth surface
4. Medium should be homogeneous
The discrepancies of the experimental results
Our experimental results are slightly greater than the actual value.
I think this small difference came due to,
1. Instrumental and observational inaccuracy
• The liquid may not have uniform density.
• The ball may not be perfectly spherical.
• The noted velocity may not be constant
2. Temperature was not exact 32 degree Celsius (Standard temperature to find viscosity of castor oil )

Write about the precautions to be taken to determine the coefficient of viscosity by Falling Sphere Method
and about the result obtained experimentally.
1. Experimental particle should be spherical and should have smooth surface
2. Liquid should be transparent to watch motion of the ball
3. Velocity should be noted only when it becomes constant.

-It may be mentioned here that Oseen improved the Stoke solution considering inertial term, which is given as
24 3
CD= (1+ Re)
𝑅𝑒 16
-This has extended the range of validity upto Re= 1. Another empirical relation acceptable up to about Re=100,
1
24 3 2
is CD= (1 + 𝑅𝑒) .
𝑅𝑒 16

REPORT:
Draw the diagram of the experimental set-up.

Spherical Ball

________
STOPWATCH ________
____ ____
________
________
_ _ _ _ _ __ _
__
Castor oil

_______
1 m scale

_ ____
Write theoretical background from fluid mechanics point of view with the derivation of formulas used in this
experiment (free body diagram, force balance, form/pressure drag, friction/viscous drag, etc.).
When a body moves through viscous fluid (or viscous fluid flows past the body) with a constant velocity, the
body experiences a resistive force against its motion, known as drag force. According to the Stokes law, the drag
force (D) experienced by a spherical body of diameter d (=2a) when it
moves with a steady uniform velocity (U) through a viscous fluid (of FD FB
coefficient of viscosity, µ) is D = 6πµaU.
This valid for small Reynolds number (Re) of the flow. Again, it can be
24
expressed in terms of drag coefficient, CD, where CD= .
𝑅𝑒
This is often known as Stokes Law. Resultant
When a spherical body moves vertically downward (as in this experiment) force
it is possible to determine the coefficient of viscosity by determining the
2𝑎2
terminal velocity U where µ= (𝛾𝑆 -𝛾𝐿 ), 𝛾𝑆 and 𝛾𝐿 refer to the specific
9𝑈
weights of the material of the body and fluid, respectively

weight

Plot CD vs. Re on a log-log graph paper

THEORETICAL Cd vs. Re:

EXPERIMENTAL Cd vs Re:

Observation made by…………… MANISH DAS …….………………..

Class… BME- II ………….Section … B1 ……. Roll… 001911201119 ….
Class Teacher……………………………………..…….. Date …………………………..