3 ms·
Some sources suggest heating the mineral oil to ~50° Centigrade, but I’m not exactly sure what the reasoning for that might be, so I stuck with room temperature
by _Microft 7y ago
Some sources suggest heating the mineral oil to ~50° Centigrade, but I’m not exactly sure what the reasoning for that might be, so I stuck with room temperature.
The likely explanation is that heating lowers the surface tension [0] and viscosity of the oil so that it can creep easier between the parts. I also considered heating for a problem where a liquid had to enter very narrow cracks.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%B6tv%C3%B6s_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%B6tv%C3%B6s_rule
- oeuviz 7y agoCould it also dissolve solved air contained within the oil, as it happens by boiling water?
- _Microft 7y agoThe liquid should be able to hold less gas at higher temperatures, yes. What you observe with boiling water though is not solved gases leaving the water but actually water turning into steam. Steam is exactly the same stuff as water, just a lot less dense. Actually if you increase temperature and pressure enough, there will be a point at which it makes no sense to differentiate between water and steam anymore [1]! Which is a fun thing: you can turn water into steam without boiling it. Raise the temperature and pressure enough while keeping it liquid, reduce temperature while keeping the pressure up and then reduce the pressure as far as you like, as long as it doesn't make the water condensate. Voilà, steam without boiling! What is happening there is taking a detour around the critical point instead of crossing the blue line (which is where water boils) in the following graphic[0]: [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_point_(thermodynamics)#/media/File:Phase-diag2.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_point_(thermodynamics... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_point_(thermodynamics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_point_(thermodynamics...