How does temperature affect the viscosity of oils?

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How does temperature affect the viscosity of oils?

   

Prediction

I predict that as the temperature of the oil increases the viscosity will increase. This means that the ball bearing will drop down quicker as the oil is heated. I think this because when the oil is heated the molecules will vibrate because they are given energy by the heat. This causes the molecules to move apart leaving gaps in between which the ball bearing will be able to move through easily.

Method

Take a glass tube and hold it in a clamp stand. Mark up to where you want to put the oil. Fill up to the mark with C6 oil at room temperature. Then drop a ball bearing from the rim of the glass tube. Make sure you start the watch at the exact same time as you drop the ball bearing. Stop the watch as soon as the ball bearing touches the bottom of the tube and put the time of this in the results table. Do this three times and take the average. Repeat these steps for C8, C10, C12 and C16 oils at room temperature. Put the jars of oil into a beaker of water and use a Bunsen burner to heat it. Try and prevent the water going over the top of the jars of oil, as the water may go into the oils and this would affect the results. When the oil is heated to the required temperature repeat what you did for the oils at room temperature. The oils should be heated to 30ºC then 40ºC, then 50ºC, then 60ºC, and finally 70ºC.

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Apparatus

Clamp, Clamp stand, Glass tube, Ball bearing, Bunsen burner, Tripod, Gauze, Water, 250ml beaker, Stopwatch, Thermometer, C6, C8, C10, C12, and C16 oils.

Diagram

Preliminary Diagram

Preliminary Work

My preliminary work helped me significantly to write my plan. Through trying to carry out some practice tests, I found that it was hard and not particularly accurate if I just picked up the ...

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