Viscosity is defined as a fluid’s resistance to flow. In lubrication management, understanding the viscosity of a lubricant means understanding the two types of viscosity measurements: kinematic viscosity (KV) and dynamic viscosity (DV). This post focuses on DV and its implications in lubricant analysis. What is Dynamic Viscosity? Dynamic viscosity, also called absolute viscosity, is the measure of a fluid’s resistance to an external force. Simply put, dynamic viscosity is the viscosity value you get if you apply force to a fluid and measure the fluid’s reaction to said force. To illustrate, if you stir an amount of water in a cup, it will react by producing a force, called torque, which resists the stirring force. Now, if you stir