Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Measuring the Densities of Aqueous Glasses at Cryogenic Temperatures
Published on: June 28, 2017
Viscosity of alpha-crystallin solutions
1Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AW, UK. john.tiffany@eye.ox.ac.uk
Abstract:
Accommodation in the mammalian lens requires flexure of lens fibres and some redistribution of their contents involving limited viscous flow. Shear-dependent viscosity of bovine alpha-crystallin solutions was determined with the Contraves Low-Shear Rheometer between 4.4 and 347 mg ml(-1), and at 15.5, 25, 30, and 37 degrees C. All solutions showed significant shear thinning, with markedly higher viscosity at physiological levels of approximately 300 mg ml(-1). Viscosity-concentration graphs were similar at low (1.0 s(-1)) and high (94.5 s(-1)) shear rates, indicating low molecular interaction in solution. Arrhenius plots which might have indicated the size of the energy barrier to displacement of molecules or aggregates were inconclusive.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity
The various IMFs between identical molecules of a substance are examples of cohesive forces. The molecules within a liquid are surrounded by other molecules and are attracted equally in all directions by the cohesive forces within the liquid. However, the molecules on the surface of a liquid are attracted only by about one-half as many molecules. Because of the unbalanced molecular attractions on the surface molecules, liquids contract to form a shape that minimizes the number...
Viscosity
The SI unit of viscosity is...
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Viscosity
Nonideal Two-Component Liquid Solutions
Viscosity of Fluid

