Written by Daisy Quaker, AMSOIL Inc. Why does honey flow more slowly than water? Because of the difference in its viscosity. Viscosity is the measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. Water, for example, flows much faster than honey or maple syrup (if you prefer that in your morning coffee) when poured from a container. Thin and light describe fluids with low viscosity Thick and heavy describe fluids with high viscosity What causes differences in viscosity? Molecules, honey (get it?) I think best in visuals, so let’s think of molecules as a group of people in a room. In one group everyone is holding hands very lightly. It’s flu season and they don’t want to get sick. On the other side of the room, everyone is holding hands fairly tightly. It’s a close-knit group, that one. If you weave through both groups and break through the chains of people, you have an easier time weaving through the first group than the second. This is essentially how molec