ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Viscous liquid

Viscous liquid is a type of liquid that feels thick and sticky, kind of like honey. Imagine if you were trying to pour a thick syrup from a bottle, the syrup wouldn't come out quickly but would slowly flow due to its thickness. That's the way viscous liquids act. These liquids are usually made up of long chains of molecules that stick together and don't slide past each other easily.

Think of it like a long line of ants walking in a straight line. Each ant is connected to the one before it and the one behind it, so they move together as a group instead of independently. This makes it harder for the ants to move quickly or change direction, just like it is harder for the molecules in a viscous liquid to move quickly or flow easily.

Another example could be like playing with playdough. When you first take it out of the container, it is really easy to shape and mold. But as you keep playing with it, it starts to get harder and stickier which makes it more difficult to move around. This is because the playdough becomes more viscous as you work it with your hands.

So, viscous liquids are basically liquids that are thick and sticky because the molecules are tightly bound together and not able to move as freely as those in thinner liquids like water or alcohol.