What is this property of honey called

viscosity TFD

The resistance of a substance to flow. A substance that can flow easily has a low viscosity. A substance that cannot flow easily has a high viscosity.

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As in:

Honey has a high viscosity.

And fluid dynamics of honey: Journal of Fluid Dynamics

A thin ‘rope’ of viscous fluid falling from a sufficient height onto a surface forms a series of regular coils.

the physics of err ... a little above my pay grade. But herein may lie the secrets to a space 'warp drive' lol!


I believe the term you're looking for is the liquid rope-coil effect.

While there is no definition entry in any in any form, it appears to be an accepted term among those who study physics.

This blurb from Scientific American writes:

[This] thin stream of falling honey does not approach the toast directly, but instead builds up a whirling helical structure. In the late 1950s the resemblance to a pile of coiled rope led the first investigators of this phenomenon, George Barnes and Richard Woodcock, to call it the liquid rope-coil effect.

Hope this is helpful!


'Non-Newtonian' is the scientific description given to some fluids which have specific behaviour and properties like those described by the OP.

The behaviour of such fluids is not just a matter of viscosity :

Many salt solutions and molten polymers are non-Newtonian fluids, as are many commonly found substances such as ketchup, custard, toothpaste, starch suspensions, maizena, honey, paint, blood, and shampoo.

Although the concept of viscosity is commonly used in fluid mechanics to characterize the shear properties of a fluid, it can be inadequate to describe non-Newtonian fluids.

Wikipedia

Further reference supplied by @JJJ :

what we really need physicists to focus on is the mystery of why strands of sweet, sticky honey can get so long and thin as they drip without actually breaking.

The Physics of Dripping Honey