Water Dynamic Kinematic Viscosity

Reference data and engineering information about water dynamic kinematic viscosity for fluid mechanics applications.

waterdynamickinematicviscosityData Table

Overview

Water viscosity is a critical fluid property for pipe sizing, pump selection, heat exchanger design, and Reynolds number calculations. Both dynamic viscosity ( $\mu$ ) and kinematic viscosity ( $\nu$ ) decrease strongly with temperature and are nearly independent of pressure below 100 °C at atmospheric conditions.

The data below applies to liquid water at saturation pressure. For practical purposes this matches atmospheric-pressure values at temperatures below 100 °C.

Key Formulas

Dynamic–Kinematic Relationship

$\nu = \frac{\mu}{\rho}$

Kinematic viscosity equals dynamic viscosity divided by density.

Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann (VFT) Estimation

$\mu(T) = A \cdot \exp\!\left(\frac{B}{T - C}\right)$

Fitted constants for water: $A \approx 2.414 \times 10^{-5}$ Pa·s, $B \approx 247.8$ K, $C \approx 140$ K. Temperature $T$ is in Kelvin. Valid for liquid water from roughly 0 °C to 370 °C.

Reynolds Number

$Re = \frac{\rho \, v \, D}{\mu}$

Determines whether flow is laminar ( $Re < 2300$ ), transitional, or turbulent ( $Re > 4000$ ) in pipes.

Variables

Symbol	Description	Typical Unit
$\mu$	Dynamic (absolute) viscosity	Pa·s or cP
$\nu$	Kinematic viscosity	m²/s or cSt
$\rho$	Density	kg/m³
$T$	Temperature	K, °C, or °F
$v$	Flow velocity	m/s
$D$	Pipe diameter	m
$Re$	Reynolds number	dimensionless

Reference Data

Water Viscosity vs Temperature (Celsius)

16 rows

Dynamic and kinematic viscosity of liquid water at saturation pressure (SI)
Temperature(°C)	Sat. Pressure(MPa)	Dynamic Viscosity(cP (mPa·s))	Kinematic Viscosity(mm²/s (cSt))
0	0.000612	1.7914	1.7918
10	0.0012	1.306	1.3065
20	0.0023	1.0016	1.0035
25	0.0032	0.89	0.8927
30	0.0042	0.7972	0.8007
40	0.0074	0.6527	0.6579
50	0.0124	0.5465	0.5531
60	0.0199	0.466	0.474
70	0.0312	0.4035	0.4127
80	0.0474	0.354	0.3643
90	0.0702	0.3142	0.3255
100	0.101	0.2816	0.2938
110	0.143	0.2546	0.2677
120	0.199	0.232	0.246
140	0.362	0.1966	0.2123
160	0.618	0.1704	0.1878

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com

Water Viscosity vs Temperature (Fahrenheit)

14 rows

Dynamic and kinematic viscosity of liquid water at saturation pressure (Imperial)
Temperature(°F)	Sat. Pressure(psi)	Dynamic Viscosity(lbf·s/ft² ×10⁻⁵)	Dynamic Viscosity(cP (mPa·s))	Kinematic Viscosity(ft²/s ×10⁻⁵)
32	0.0951	3.7414	1.7914	1.9287
39	0.118	3.2801	1.5705	1.6906
50	0.1781	2.7276	1.306	1.4063
60	0.2563	2.3405	1.1206	1.2075
70	0.3634	2.0337	0.9737	1.0503
80	0.5076	1.7888	0.8565	0.925
90	0.6992	1.5896	0.7611	0.8234
100	0.9506	1.4243	0.682	0.7392
110	1.277	1.2847	0.6151	0.6682
120	1.695	1.1652	0.5579	0.6075
130	2.226	1.062	0.5085	0.5551
140	2.893	0.9733	0.466	0.5102
150	3.723	0.895	0.4285	0.4706
160	4.747	0.8279	0.3964	0.4367

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com

Interactive Charts

Water Viscosity vs Temperature at Saturation Pressure (0–360 °C)

Water Viscosity vs Temperature at Saturation Pressure (32–675 °F)

Water Relative Viscosity vs Pressure and Temperature

Online Water Viscosity Calculator

Water Dynamic and Kinematic Viscosity

Water temperature(°C)

Water density(kg/m3)

Reynolds Number Calculator

Use this calculator to estimate the Reynolds number for water flowing in a pipe at a given temperature. Dynamic viscosity is interpolated from the source table.

Pipe Flow Reynolds Number

Temperature(°C)

Water density(kg/m3)

Flow Velocity(m/s)

Pipe Diameter(m)

Unit Conversions

Dynamic Viscosity

From	To Pa·s	To cP	To lb/(ft·s)
1 Pa·s	1	1 000	0.6722
1 cP	0.001	1	6.722 × 10⁻⁴
1 lb/(ft·s)	1.4882	1 488.2	1
1 lb/(ft·h)	4.134 × 10⁻⁴	0.4134	2.778 × 10⁻⁴
1 P (poise)	0.1	100	0.06722

Kinematic Viscosity

From	To m²/s	To cSt	To ft²/s
1 m²/s	1	1 × 10⁶	10.7639
1 cSt	1 × 10⁻⁶	1	1.0764 × 10⁻⁵
1 St (stoke)	1 × 10⁻⁴	100	1.0764 × 10⁻³
1 ft²/s	0.09290	92 903	1

Restored Original Source Tables

The following tables are restored from the original source page to preserve the complete reference data.

Water - Dynamic (Absolute) and Kinematic Viscosity vs. Temperature and Pressure

26 rows

Water - Dynamic (Absolute) and Kinematic Viscosity vs. Temperature and Pressure
°C(°C)	MPa(MPa)	Pa s), (N s/m2(Pa s), (N s/m2)	cP), (mPa s(cP), (mPa s)	lbf s/ft2 ×10-5(lbf s/ft2 ×10-5)	m2/s ×10-6), (cSt)(m2/s ×10-6), (cSt))
0.01	0.000612	0.0017914	1.7914	3.7414	1.7918
10	0.0012	0.001306	1.306	2.7276	1.3065
20	0.0023	0.0010016	1.0016	2.0919	1.0035
25	0.0032	0.00089	0.89004	1.8589	0.8927
30	0.0042	0.0007972	0.79722	1.665	0.8007
40	0.0074	0.0006527	0.65272	1.3632	0.6579
50	0.0124	0.0005465	0.5465	1.1414	0.5531
60	0.0199	0.000466	0.46602	0.9733	0.474
70	0.0312	0.0004035	0.40353	0.8428	0.4127
80	0.0474	0.000354	0.35404	0.7394	0.3643
90	0.0702	0.0003142	0.31417	0.6562	0.3255
100	0.101	0.0002816	0.28158	0.5881	0.2938
110	0.143	0.0002546	0.25461	0.5318	0.2677
120	0.199	0.000232	0.23203	0.4846	0.246
140	0.362	0.0001966	0.19664	0.4107	0.2123
160	0.618	0.0001704	0.17043	0.3559	0.1878
180	1	0.0001504	0.15038	0.3141	0.1695
200	1.55	0.0001346	0.13458	0.2811	0.1556
220	2.32	0.0001218	0.12177	0.2543	0.1449
240	3.35	0.0001111	0.11106	0.232	0.1365
260	4.69	0.0001018	0.10181	0.2126	0.1299
280	6.42	0.0000936	0.09355	0.1954	0.1247
300	8.59	0.0000859	0.08586	0.1793	0.1206
320	11.3	0.0000783	0.07831	0.1636	0.1174
340	14.6	0.0000703	0.07033	0.1469	0.1152
360	18.7	0.0000603	0.06031	0.126	0.1143

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com

Water - Dynamic (Absolute) and Kinematic Viscosity vs. Temperature and Pressure

35 rows

Water - Dynamic (Absolute) and Kinematic Viscosity vs. Temperature and Pressure
°F(°F)	psi(psi)	lbf s/ft2 ×10-5(lbf s/ft2 ×10-5)	lbm/(ft h)(lbm/(ft h))	cP), (mPa s(cP), (mPa s)	ft2/s ×10-5(ft2/s ×10-5)
32.02	0.9506	3.7414	4.3336	1.7914	1.9287
34	0.0962	3.6047	4.1752	1.7259	1.8579
39.2	0.118	3.2801	3.7992	1.5705	1.6906
40	0.1217	3.234	3.7458	1.5484	1.6668
50	0.1781	2.7276	3.1593	1.306	1.4063
60	0.2563	2.3405	2.7109	1.1206	1.2075
70	0.3634	2.0337	2.3556	0.9737	1.0503
80	0.5076	1.7888	2.0719	0.8565	0.925
90	0.6992	1.5896	1.8411	0.7611	0.8234
100	0.9506	1.4243	1.6497	0.682	0.7392
110	1.277	1.2847	1.488	0.6151	0.6682
120	1.695	1.1652	1.3496	0.5579	0.6075
130	2.226	1.062	1.23	0.5085	0.5551
140	2.893	0.9733	1.1273	0.466	0.5102
150	3.723	0.895	1.0366	0.4285	0.4706
160	4.747	0.8279	0.9589	0.3964	0.4367
170	6	0.7698	0.8916	0.3686	0.4074
180	7.52	0.7192	0.833	0.3444	0.382
190	9.349	0.6745	0.7813	0.323	0.3596
200	11.537	0.63	0.7297	0.3016	0.3371
212	14.71	0.5881	0.6812	0.2816	0.3163
220	17.203	0.5619	0.6508	0.269	0.3032
240	25.001	0.505	0.585	0.2418	0.275
260	35.263	0.4575	0.5299	0.2191	0.2515
280	49.286	0.4176	0.4837	0.2	0.232
300	67.264	0.384	0.4448	0.1839	0.2157
350	134.73	0.3202	0.3708	0.1533	0.1853
400	247.01	0.275	0.3185	0.1317	0.1648
450	422.32	0.2404	0.2785	0.1151	0.1504
500	680.56	0.2126	0.2463	0.1018	0.1398
550	1045	0.1888	0.2187	0.0904	0.1322
600	1542.1	0.1673	0.1937	0.0801	0.127
625	1851.2	0.1562	0.1809	0.0748	0.1252
650	2207.8	0.1438	0.1666	0.0689	0.1239
675	2618.7	0.1292	0.1496	0.0619	0.123

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com

Original Source Images

The following original source images are preserved to avoid losing visual reference material. When an image contains chart or tabular data, its extracted values are represented in the page tables, calculators, or interactive charts; remaining images are retained as visual source references.

water_viscosity water_temp_pressure_viscosity

The original source includes a related mobile apps section for Engineering ToolBox calculators and reference tools. The calculation content from that section is represented here by the interactive viscosity, Reynolds number, and unit-conversion calculators above.

Engineering Notes

Temperature range: Tabulated saturation-pressure data is valid from 0 °C (32 °F) to 360 °C (675 °F). The online calculator note on the source page extends to about 370 °C (700 °F), but the plotted table values stop at 360 °C / 675 °F.
Pressure effect: Below 100 °C, pressure has negligible influence on viscosity. Above ~200 °C, use saturation-pressure data rather than atmospheric assumptions.
Pipe flow rule of thumb: At 20 °C the kinematic viscosity is ~1 cSt. For a 25 mm pipe at 1 m/s, $Re \approx 25{,}000$ — well into the turbulent regime. At 60 °C the same conditions give $Re \approx 53{,}000$ .
Viscosity ratio: Dynamic viscosity at 80 °C is roughly half the 10 °C value. Temperature-controlled processes must account for this strong variation.
Impurities: Dissolved salts, glycol, or other additives change water viscosity significantly. The tables here apply to pure water only.
Kinematic vs dynamic: Dynamic viscosity ( $\mu$ ) is used directly in momentum equations and Reynolds number. Kinematic viscosity ( $\nu$ ) is convenient for gravity-driven flows and open-channel problems.

References

Engineering ToolBox — Water — Dynamic and Kinematic Viscosity
IAPWS (International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam) formulations for thermophysical properties of water.

Source: engineeringtoolbox.com