Finding the Viscosity of Liquid Droplets using the Acoustic Levitator

Abstract

Viscosity is a way to measure the internal resistance of a fluid to deformation and it can be seen as the friction between the different layers of the fluid. Contact with a surface can therefore make it harder to measure the viscosity. Because of this we will use acoustic levitation, so that we can remotely measure the viscosity of a liquid droplet without it being in contact with a surface. During our experiments, we will change different variables that have influence on this viscosity. We will change the temperature, so that we can test the accuracy of our method. We will also change the volume fraction of ethylene glycol in demi-water, once again to test the accuracy. In our third experiment, we will look at the viscosity of water droplets containing nano particles because we also want to find out if we are able to see the colloidal glass transition.