Abstract
IF the term ‘thixotropy' be restricted to Freundlich‘s original definition of reversible sol-gel transformation, a peculiar manifestation of this property is strikingly shown by petroleum jelly at varying rates of shear. The phenomenon can be demonstrated with no more elaborate apparatus than a 100-c.c. glass cylinder and a perforated disk as piston, mounted centrally on a metal rod terminating in a ring, a similar arrangement to the familiar ‘malted milk mixer'. The plunger not only serves to shear the contents of the cylinder, but also as a rough consistometer, the time of travel of the disk between any two graduations on the freely suspended cylinder serving as a measure, provided the rigidity component of consistency of the material is less than the hydrostatic load of the suspended cylinder.
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DE WAELE, A. Thixotropic Behaviour of Petroleum Jelly. Nature 163, 248 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/163248a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/163248a0
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