How temperature affects the viscosity of oil.

        The thin long glass tube was chosen so there wouldn’t be a lot of oil wasted but long enough for the difference to be obvious. The nail is small and magnetic so would fit into the tube with no trouble and would come to the top quite without difficulty as well.

        There are only a few safety hazards that need precautions against they are, that rubber gloves or worn or hands washed with soap afterwards, as oil can cause cancer. When the waterbath is being prepared people need to be cautious of the kettle.

        To keep the experiment fair the same oil, nail and tube will be used during all testing. The right temperature will be waited for and a thermometer will be used.

        In the preliminary test the angle of the tube affected the time so in the test it will be held upright at 90o to the table using a clamp and protractor.

        My prediction is that as the temperature increases the time taken for the nail to fall will be quicker. This is, as the particles will form less resistance as they are heated. I know this because the particles in a solid are very close together, when they are heated/melted into a liquid the particles become further apart, when the liquid is heated/boiled and becomes a gas the particles are far apart and form little resistance.

Analysis: These results match my prediction and show that the science I used was correct. The particles have loosened and moved apart as the temperature has increased.

Evaluation:  My results are accurate and reliable. The similarity between the results and slight difference between the results support this. For example, on 50oc all 3 times are within 1second of the average. The biggest difference between the highest and lowest out of the 3 times is 3.2 seconds, which is not a huge difference. This evidence is sufficient enough to support my conclusion that when the temperature is increased the viscosity of oil decreases as there is lees resistance as the particles have loosened. If the experiment was done again different types of oil would be tested, this is too see which oils have longer hydrocarbon chains form less resistance quicker as the temperature increases.