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Poise (unit)

physical science Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Have you ever wondered how thick a liquid is? Scientists use a unit called the poise to measure this. This measure is for dynamic viscosity. Viscosity is how a liquid flows. The poise is part of a system called CGS. It is named after Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille.

Most people use a smaller unit called the centipoise. The symbol for it is cP. One centipoise is one hundredth of a poise. This unit is very helpful for us. We use it to compare liquids to water. At 20 °C, water has a viscosity of almost 1 centipoise. This makes water a great baseline.

Other systems use different names. The SI system uses the pascal-second. One centipoise is also one millipascal-second. This is a very small amount. At 25 °C, liquid water has a value of 0.890 centipoise. This happens at a pressure of 1 atmosphere. Measuring how things flow helps us understand the world.

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