Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 148101 (2009) [4 pages]Reduction of Viscosity in Suspension of Swimming Bacteria
See accompanying Physics Focus Measurements of the shear viscosity in suspensions of swimming Bacillus subtilis in free-standing liquid films have revealed that the viscosity can decrease by up to a factor of 7 compared to the viscosity of the same liquid without bacteria or with nonmotile bacteria. The reduction in viscosity is observed in two complementary experiments: one studying the decay of a large vortex induced by a moving probe and another measuring the viscous torque on a rotating magnetic particle immersed in the film. The viscosity depends on the concentration and swimming speed of the bacteria. © 2009 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.148101
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.148101
PACS:
87.16.−b, 05.65.+b
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