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Viscosity

Viscosity

When water is poured into a glass, it falls freely and quickly, whereas if honey or maple syrup is poured over a pancake, it flows slowly and sticks to the surface of the container. This difference in the flow of different kinds of liquids arises due to the fluid friction between the liquid layers and the liquid and the surrounding material. This property of fluids is called fluid viscosity. In this example, water has a lower viscosity than honey and maple syrup.
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Viscosity

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Diffusion

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2026

The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow

The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow

Published on: May 1, 2018

Diffusive behavior of a thin particle layer in fluid by hydrodynamic interaction.

Shusaku Harada¹, Ryoko Otomo

¹Division of Field Engineering for Environment, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. harada@eng.hokudai.ac.jp

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|April 7, 2010

Summary

Particle layer movement is driven by hydrodynamic forces, not Brownian motion. The internal arrangement of particles significantly impacts layer spreading, contrasting with typical diffusion patterns.

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Area of Science:

Fluid dynamics
Particle physics
Rheology

Background:

Investigating hydrodynamic effects on thin particle layers under external forces.
Anisotropic particle arrangement due to layer ends causes position-dependent drag forces.
Relative particle motion leads to layer spreading, a phenomenon distinct from Brownian diffusion.

Purpose of the Study:

To theoretically and numerically investigate the diffusive behavior of particle layers with various internal arrangements.
To understand how non-Brownian particle motion, driven solely by hydrodynamic force variance, influences layer spreading.
To compare the diffusive behavior of non-Brownian particle layers with gradient diffusion of Brownian particles.

Main Methods:

Theoretical and numerical investigation of hydrodynamic effects.
Application of Stokesian dynamics approach to calculate hydrodynamic forces on individual particles.
Analysis of particle layer spreading based on internal arrangement and hydrodynamic interactions.

Main Results:

The internal arrangement of particles critically influences their relative motion.
The overall diffusive motion of a particle layer is arrangement-dependent, even at similar particle concentrations.
Hydrodynamic forces, rather than Brownian motion, are the primary drivers of relative particle movement in this system.

Conclusions:

The study highlights the significant role of particle arrangement in non-Brownian layer spreading.
Hydrodynamic interactions provide an alternative mechanism for particle diffusion in confined systems.
Findings offer insights into particle transport phenomena where Brownian motion is negligible.