Properties of Fluids: Summary
The answers to the ConcepTests are given below and will open in a separate window.
Key points from this module:
- A fluid is a material that deforms continuously when acted upon by a shear stress.
- A shear stress in a tangential force that acts parallel to a surface.
- Molecular spacing is responsible for fluids to deform continuously.
- The bulk modulus is a fluid property that describes the compressibility of a fluid.
- Surface tension is a tensile force at interfaces of two immiscible fluids caused by an imbalance of cohesion forces.
From studying this module, you should now be able to:
- Determine what can be considered a fluid.
- Identify what a shear stress is.
- Use and describe density, specific gravity, specific weight, the bulk modulus, vapor pressure, and surface tension in engineering applications.
- Calculate the height of capillary rise.
Prepared by Janet deGrazia, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder