Dear Doc Rheo

Dear Doc Rheo:
How do you type the symbol of shear rate "gamma-dot" ?
Andrew Sun

Dear Andrew:

I use the equation plug in for Microsoft Word.  I've been using this package for the last 15 years.  With this software, you can add accent dots over characters like so...

Respectively submitted,

Doc Rheo

Jobs Report (July)

A keyword "rheolog*" search on Monster.com conducted on July 1 found 38 job positions listed.  There were 41 positions advertised in June and 44 in May, respectively.

Quotation of the Moment

A colleague at work said

The toes you step on today may belong to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.

Her point was that the food industry is small, and you may run into former colleagues down the road.  The same thing applies to the rheology industry.

Product of the Moment: Old Viscosity Beer

Featured today is Old Viscosity Ale, brewed by the Port Brewing Company in San Diego, CA.  Their web site states "Code named by our brewers-'The Big Black Nasty,' this is monstrous dark ale is brewed to no particular style. Thick and sludgy like oil from the crankcase of a wheat threshing combine, Old Viscosity blurs the boundaries of Porter, Stout, Old Ale and Barleywines."  


Sadly, this beer is not available in Nebraska, so I won't be able to verify the viscosity myself.  (My interests are purely scientific, of course.)  The beer is available in CA, AZ, WA, and CO, and in the metro areas of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Physics Today Articles (May '10)

I'm getting to this a bit late, but the May 2010 issue of Physics Today had a few rheology-related articles--

• Introduction to foaming liquids [free]
• Ruminations on the perfect fluid, where classical fluid mechanics predicts that the viscosity is zero [registration required]
• Creating the perfect fluid at Brookhaven [registration required]

Registration is required to read the latter two articles, but SOR members can read the articles for free.

Unbreakable (for 10 years)

The plastic pieces shown here come from our kitchen light fixture.The plastic fractured when I was replacing some light bulbs.  I was wondering how the parts were originally installed, considering how fragile the plastic was.





The answer came when I picked up parts at a local hardware store.  The new plastic is much more flexible than the old plastic.  I was able to bend the plastic to fit it into the shopping cart.  According to the big print on the label, this material is "virtually unbreakable."  The fine print says that the warranty is good for 10 years.  The original plastic was probably installed when the house was first built, 16 years ago.  As the plastic aged, it became more fragile.

Rheology Course Updates

The Hydan rheology course and the University of Minnesota rheology course were held this month, so I've removed the links.  If you're looking for basic rheology courses, the rotational rheometer companies hold classes.  I haven't been involved in any courses for the last five years, so I don't know how good they are.  Here are some links to the training pages--

• Anton Paar classes
• TA Instruments classes
• Malvern classes
• I don't see any courses for Thermo Scientific, but that doesn't mean they don't offer any.

Elvis was a Chemical Engineer

In the movie Clambake, Elvis Presley played a wealthy chemical engineer who is the son of a wealthy oil baron.  As part of the plot, Elvis develops a new varnish that helps him win a boat race and impress the girl.  According to the book ReAction!: Chemistry in the Movies by Griep and Mikasen, the varnish, called GOOP in the movie, is based on a real varnish that dissolves in water.

Sadly, movie this appears to be one of Elvis's poorer efforts.  Its main sin is that the songs are forgettable; after all, one doesn't watch an Elvis movie for the plot.

Link of the Moment: Rheology School

Today's link is a consulting business from the UK called the Rheology School.  The business, run by Neil Cunningham, offers sample testing, consulting, classes, rheology glossary, and an independent rheometer buying guide.

What a Drag it is Getting Old

Most of my recent work has involved concentric cylinders and vanes, so loading a sample is a snap.  Recently, I've had to run some parallel plate samples, and I realize that I'm over the proverbial hill, and accelerating downward.  It's harder than I remember to focus on the sample to make sure the gap is completely filled.  It's just another sign that bifocals are in my future.