Method and apparatus for characterizing materials by using a mechanical resonator

A sensor for characterizing a fluid, the sensor comprising a plurality of mechanical resonators having at least two different structures, the plurality of resonators comprising a low frequency tuning fork resonator and a high frequency tuning fork frequency resonator, the plurality of resonators being adapted for measuring physical or chemical properties of the fluid, at least one of the resonators having an operational frequency of less than 1 MHz wherein the plurality of resonators are attached to multiple frequency generating circuits adapted to measure properties of the fluid compositions over multiple frequency sweeps.

A sensor for characterizing a fluid, the sensor comprising:

• a plurality of mechanical resonators, each of the plurality of resonators having an operational frequency of less than 1 MHz, the plurality of resonators being adapted for measuring physical or chemical properties of the fluid, and
• a sweep generator for generating a variable frequency input signal to cause the resonators to oscillate,
• wherein the plurality of resonators are selected from a low frequency tuning fork resonator, a high frequency tuning fork frequency resonator, a trident tuning fork resonator, a length extension resonator, a torsion resonator, a thickness shear mode resonator, bimorphs, unimorphs, and combinations thereof.