CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

• Introduction

The term ‘Viscosity’ describes a material’s property from a physicists point of view, it is a fluids thickness. Scientifically speaking, It is the measure of a fluids internal flow resistance to being deformed. (Szekely, 1999). Some liquid flow more easily than others do, for example honey is very thick and flows very slowly. Water is very thin and flow very quickly with this it shows that one is more viscous than the other. (Battle et al., 1990).

Viscosity can be defined as a term used to describe the resistance of low at a particular temperature. It is commonly perceived as flow behavior or resistance to pouring. Viscosity describes a  fluids internal resistance to flow and may be thought as a measure of fluid friction. A fluids viscosity is determined by viscometry, which is part of a wider science called rheometry. Rheometry againg is part of rheology, the science of materials flow behavior and deformation. Therefore, since viscosity is a measure of the internal friction or the resistance to flow a liquid, then it is said that fluids that have low viscosity pour slowly (Molasses). (Geiger et al.,1990).

• Aims And Objectives of The Study

–   This research project is aimed at investigating the viscosity of         different brands of oil samples using a glass U tube viscometer with a          capillary tube build into one leg.

– To present an investigation results  on the effects of the high viscosity       and low volatility of raw vegetable oil sample.

• To determine the moisture contents of the sample
• To analyze the relationship between several types of oil which are defined by stoke law and conclusively to apply these in order to calculate the viscosity of the oils from my result
• To determine the viscosity of common liquids by measuring the transit time of marbles through the liquids / oils.

• Scope And Limitation of The Study

This research work will be limited to the study of the viscosity of four (4) sample of oil found within our locality

• Vegetable oil
• Groundnut oil
• Red oil
• Turkey oil

The result obtained from this test method is dependent upon the behavior of the sample and is intended for application to liquids for which primarily the shear stress and shear rates are proportional.

• Definition of Terms

Viscosity: This is defined as measure of the resistance  of a liquid to deform under shear stress