While conducting this experiment the following observations were made:
Spherical and non-spherical objects experienced greater ‘drag’ effect in corn syrup than in glycerine.
Corn syrup (specific gravity of 1.232) being denser than glycerine (specific gravity 1.128).
Shape of the objects had an evident impact on the ‘drag’ experienced.
The objects shaped as spherical ball and teardrop (semi-spherical object) took 3 to 4 times lesser time to glide through both glycerine and corn syrup as compared to the non-spherical objects (cube and sphere).
Increasing the weight of spherical and non-spherical objects (by inserting fishing weights) reduced the time taken to glide through both the fluids Once again, spherical objects exhibited the same trend and took lesser time than non-spherical objects to glide the same distance in glycerine and corn syrup.
Parallelogram experienced the most amount of ‘drag’ effect.
It took between 185 seconds (maximum) to 80 seconds (minimum) to glide through the two fluids.
The general pattern for spherical and non-spherical objects was that they moved through the two viscous fluids at varying speeds.
The invisible frictional brake of viscosity or ‘drag’ effect was the outcome of the interplay between the density of the fluid and shape of the object passing through it.
| Shape | Varying Weights | Time Taken to Fall Through Glycerine (sec) | Time Taken to Fall Through Corn Syrup (sec) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sphere | 1 | 19.00 | 98.00 | 2 | 4.40 | 24.00 | 3 | 4.30 | 23.10 | 4 | 1.80 | 8.10 | 5 | 1.60 | 8.40 | Cube | 1 | 12.00 | 58.00 | 2 | 7.50 | 27.00 | 3 | 7.10 | 27.50 | 4 | 3.90 | 23.40 | 5 | 2.50 | 17.90 | Teardrop | 1 | 25.50 | 112.00 | 2 | 5.80 | 34.60 | 3 | 4.30 | 28.00 | 4 | 1.90 | 8.50 | 5 | 1.50 | 2.90 | Parallellogram | 1 | 17.60 | 230.00 | 2 | 5.80 | 31.10 | 3 | 5.20 | 23.60 | 4 | 2.20 | 20.41 | 5 | 1.60 | 7.90 |