MadSci Network: Physics |
Viscosity measures the resistance of a fluid to flow. Water flows more easily than vegetable oil at room temperature (20 degrees C). Therefore, at this temperature, vegetable oil has a higher viscosity than water. A somewhat oversimplified explanation for this is that water molecules are small, but oil molecules are chains which can get tangled up with each other. If we cool things down to -2 degrees C, the water will freeze into ice, but some kinds of vegetable oil are still liquid. So at this temperature the water ice has a higher viscosity than the liquid vegetable oil.
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