Intrinsic Viscosity

Intrinsic viscosity is a measure of a solute's contribution to the viscosity of a solution. Intrinsic viscosity is frequently referred to as "Inherent Viscosity" in macromolecular literature. It is defined as

\left = \lim_{\phi \rightarrow 0} \frac{\eta - \eta_{0}}{\eta_{0}\phi}

where is the viscosity in the absence of the solute and is the volume fraction of the solute in the solution. As defined here, the intrinsic viscosity is a dimensionless number. When the solute particles are rigid spheres, the intrinsic viscosity equals \frac{5}{2}, as shown first by Albert Einstein.

In practical settings, φ is usually solute mass concentration, and the units of intrinsic viscosity are deciliters per gram (dL/g), otherwise known as inverse concentration.

Read more about Intrinsic Viscosity:  Formulae For Rigid Spheroids, General Ellipsoidal Formulae, Frequency Dependence, Applications

Famous quotes containing the word intrinsic:

    “Wherever there are walls I shall inscribe this eternal accusation against Christianity upon them—I can write in letters which make even the blind see ... I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great intrinsic depravity, the one great instinct for revenge for which no expedient is sufficiently poisonous, secret, subterranean, petty—I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind....”
    —Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)