ViscosityLearning Objective: | Define viscosity, and recognize the other properties of seawater that control it. |
Viscosity is resistance to flow. Seawater is slightly more viscous than freshwater, and the level of resistance is controlled by its temperature and salinity. Viscosity increases when salinity increases or the water temperature decreases. However, the effect of decreasing temperature is greater than that of increasing salinity. The resistance rate is not uniform; it increases as the temperature decreases. Because of the effect of temperature on viscosity, an incompressible object might sink at a faster rate in warm surface water than in colder subsurface water. For most compressible objects, viscosity effects may be more than offset (controbilanciati) by the compressibility of the object. In reality this is a very simple explanation to a complex problem, since the actual relationships existing in the ocean are considerably more complicated than portrayed here.
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