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Related Concept Videos

Torsional Pendulum01:09

Torsional Pendulum

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A torsional pendulum involves the oscillation of a rigid body in which the restoring force is provided by the torsion in the string from which the rigid body is suspended. Ideally, the string should be massless; practically, its mass is much smaller than the rigid body's mass and is neglected.
As long as the rigid body's angular displacement is small, its oscillation can be modeled as a linear angular oscillation. The amplitude of the oscillation is an angle. The role of mass is played...
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In analyzing a thin-walled hollow shaft subjected to torsional loading, a segment with width dx is isolated for examination. Despite its equilibrium state, this segment faces torsional shearing forces at its ends. These forces are quantitatively described by the product of the longitudinal shearing stress on the segment's minor surface and the area of this surface, leading to the concept of shear flow. This shear flow is consistent throughout the structure, indicating a uniform distribution...
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Physical Pendulum01:06

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When a rigid body is hanging freely from a fixed pivot point and is displaced, it oscillates similar to a simple pendulum and is known as a physical pendulum. The period and angular frequency of a physical pendulum are obtained by using the small-angle approximation and drawing parallels with a spring-mass system. The small-angle approximation (sinθ=θ) is valid up to about 14°.
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Viscosity01:17

Viscosity

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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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Consider a coffee mug hanging on a hook in a pantry. If the mug gets knocked, it oscillates back and forth like a pendulum until the oscillations die out.
A simple pendulum can be described as a point mass and a string. Meanwhile, a physical pendulum is any object whose oscillations are similar to a simple pendulum, but cannot be modeled as a point mass on a string because its mass is distributed over a larger area. The behavior of a physical pendulum can be modeled using the principles of...
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A simple pendulum consists of a small diameter ball suspended from a string, which has negligible mass but is strong enough to not stretch. In our daily life, pendulums have many uses, such as in clocks, on a swing set, and on a sinker on a fishing line. 
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An Absolute Determination of Viscosity Using a Torsional Pendulum.

Hobart S White1, Elliot A Kearsley1

  • 1Institute for Basic Standards, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C. 20234.

Journal of Research of the National Bureau of Standards. Section A, Physics and Chemistry
|December 8, 2021
PubMed
Summary

This study precisely measured the viscosity of di(2-ethylhexyl) sebacate using a torsional pendulum viscometer. Results showed high accuracy, though a small discrepancy with capillary viscometer data remains unexplained.

Keywords:
Absolute measurementcalibrationstandardtorsional pendulumviscosity

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Area of Science:

  • Physical Chemistry
  • Materials Science

Background:

  • Viscosity is a critical property for lubricants and plasticizers.
  • Accurate viscosity measurements are essential for material characterization and quality control.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To perform an absolute viscosity measurement of di(2-ethylhexyl) sebacate.
  • To detail the apparatus, calibration, and error analysis for torsional pendulum viscometry.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a torsional pendulum viscometer for absolute viscosity determination.
  • Conducted thorough calibration and error analysis of the experimental setup.

Main Results:

  • Achieved a systematic error of less than ±0.07% and variability below ±0.07%.
  • Observed an unexplained difference of 0.3-0.4% compared to capillary viscometer measurements.

Conclusions:

  • The torsional pendulum viscometer provides highly accurate and reproducible viscosity measurements.
  • Further investigation is needed to reconcile the observed discrepancy with capillary viscometry data.