MAPUA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND

GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
SOIL MECHANICS AND MATERIALS TESTING
LABORATORY

NAME: LAURETA, JEWIN JOYCE C.

COURSE & SECTION: CE161P-2/A5 STUDENT NO.: 2018103988

EXPERIMENT NO. 1
WATER CONTENT IN SOIL
TITLE

DATE PERFORMED: AUGUST 28, 2020

DATE SUBMITTED: AUGUST 28, 2020 GRADE

Engr. Timothy Daniel Felicia

INSTRUCTOR
 Experiment No. 1

WATER CONTENT IN SOIL

OBJECTIVE
This method of test is intended for determining the hygroscopic water content of
soils by oven drying to constant weight.

PROCEDURE
1. Weigh the clean and dry specimen container (and its lid, if used) and record
as WC.
2. Select a representative sample of the soil, place in the container and cover
immediately. Weigh and record as W1.
3. Open the container and dry in the oven to constant weight at a temperature
of 110 ± 5ºC. The drying time will depend on the kind of soil and size of
sample. A 25-gram sandy material can be dried at about 2 hours, while the
same weight of a plastic, fine-grained soil will require at least 4 hours to dry
at constant weight.
4. Remove the container from the oven and cool to room temperature. Weigh
and record as W2.
A sample may be cooled at room humidity within an hour after it has been
removed from the oven. If it cannot be weighed within this period, it should be
placed in a dessicator to cool to room temperature. This is especially significant
if the soil is very plastic and the room humidity is high. Weighing hot container
is not advisable as it affects the accuracy of results.
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

Figure 1. Container Figure 2. Balance. Sensitive to 0.01 grams

Metal tins and cans are The weighing scale is used in
used in holding and measuring the weight of the
containing the sample soils. sample soils.

Figure 4. Dessicator
Figure 3. Oven with temperature control
Dessicators are sealable
Laboratory ovens in this experiment is used enclosures containing
in drying the soil sample. It generally desiccants that helps in the
provides uniform temperature all throughout. preservation of items such as
cobalt chloride paper for
another use. A common use
for desiccators is to protect
chemicals which are
hygroscopic or which react
with water from humidity.
 Figure 5. Tongs or suitable holder for moving and handling hot containers
Laboratory tongs are typically used to hold certain objects, to
distance a person using it from an object that is heated or may
be otherwise hazardous to hold.

APPLICATION
Determining the water content of the soil is important when it comes to
designing an infrastructure. It is also essential in knowing the slope stability
(vulnerability to landslide or mudflow) and soil liquefaction potential. These are
very important when designing foundation of high rise building. Determination
of the moisture content is a great help in knowing the settlement so with the
bearing capacity of the soil.

In the field of Civil Engineering, it is very essential to determine the water

content of the soil before pursuing the construction of a building. The natural
moisture content will give an idea of the state of soil in the field. The civil
engineering structures like building, bridge, highway, tunnel, dam, tower, etc.
are founded below or on the surface of the earth. For their stability, suitable
foundation soil is required. To check the suitability of soil to be used as
foundation or as construction materials, its properties are required to be
assessed .One of these properties is the water content of the soil. Researchers
have stated that proper design and construction of civil engineering structures
prevent an adverse environmental impact or structural failure or post
 construction problems. The determination of the water content of the soil helps
in the determination of the compaction of the soil as well. Compaction helps in
the increase of the soil’s characteristics strength, which results to the
improvement of the bearing capacity of the foundations constructed over them.
The degree of compaction of a soil is measured in terms of its dry unit weight.
When water is supplemented to the soil during compaction, it serves as a
softening means on the soil particles. Thus, the higher the moisture content of
the soil, the weaker the bearing capacity it has. The moisture content
significantly affects the shear strength.

The amount, distribution, and movement of water in soil have an important

role on the properties and behavior of the soil. The engineer should know the
principles of fluid flow, as groundwater conditions are frequently encountered
on construction projects.

TECHNICAL OBSERVATION
Oven drying method is the method used in this experiment to determine the
water content of the soil. It can be done by first weighing an empty and clean
container followed by obtaining soil samples and getting its weight, dry it using the
laboratory oven, and measuring its weight again.

In the laboratory manual, the weight difference can be determined using the
equation:

(𝑊1 −𝑊𝑐)−(𝑊2 −𝑊𝑐 )

𝑊=[ (𝑊2 −𝑊𝑐 )
] 𝑥 100% (1)

In the video presented, the weight difference can be determined using the
equation:

(𝑊 −𝑊 )
𝑊 = [(𝑊2 −𝑊3 )] 𝑥 100% (2)
3 1
 In this experiment, Mapua University’s manual advises students that in
collecting the soil sample, it must undergo sieving process before measuring its
weight, while in the video clip presented, they collected soil samples and have
proceeded to the experiment proper instantly. This experiment consumes a large
amount of time especially in oven drying the sample. Moreover, sieving also takes
time. These two factors could be the reasons why the National Institute of
Technical Teachers’ Training and Research Chandigarh (NCTEL) did not sieve
their soil samples. Sieving is used in getting a controlled soil particle size so that
there will be an even distribution of coarse grained soils. The drying time will
depend on the kind of soil and size of sample. A 25-gram sandy material can be
dried at about 2 hours, while the same weight of a plastic, fine-grained soil will
require at least 4 hours to dry at constant weight.

It is stated in the laboratory manual that we should follow the minimum mass of
moist material selected to be the representative of the total sample and this is in
accordance with the table below:

Recommended Minimum Mass

Maximum Particle Size Standard Sieve of
(100% passing) Size Moist Test Specimen for Water
Content reported to ±0.1%
2 mm or less No. 10 20 g*
4.75 mm No. 4 20 g*
9.5 mm 3/8-in 50 g
19.0 mm ¾-in 250 g
37.5 mm 1 ½-in 1 kg
75.0 mm 3-in 5 kg

As I read and watched the laboratory manual and the video presentation by
Mapua University and National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and
Research Chandigarh respectively, when it comes to the experiment proper
regardless of the sieving process, they portray the same content. However, I see
a difference in the duration of oven drying the samples. In Mapua, the samples are
oven dry at a limited time and this may be due to the class’ hours provided while
the standard duration that is used in NCTEL is 24 hours.

The oven temperatures used is the same for both Mapua University and NCTEL
which is (110 ± 5ºC). This is to guarantee that while the water vaporizes the
crystalline structure of the soil particles will not be destroyed, since higher
temperatures may result to the destruction of the chemical bonding of the sample.

The results obtained by the NCTEL is evidently accurate. Since we will not
be performing the experiment, I cannot say that the result of following the
procedures stated in the laboratory manual of Mapua University will also be
accurate. Nevertheless, in following any of the procedures, what’s evident is that
we will be taught on how to calculate and determine the water content of the soil
and that we will also be taught of its importance especially when it comes to our
chosen fields.

REFERENCES
Figure 01:
https://www.google.com/search?q=1.%09Container+(e.g.+tin+or+aluminum+with
+lids)+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi3wPPgir3rAhWXA6YKHWygDvoQ2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=1.%09Container+(e.g.+tin+or+aluminum+with+lids)+&gs_lcp=
CgNpbWcQA1CvtAJYr7QCYPK8AmgAcAB4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAKABAaoBC2d
3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=E4tIX_fqCJeHmAXswLrQDw&bih=821&
biw=1707#imgrc=Yjfg4EWBcMK2lM

Figure 02:
https://www.google.com/search?q=weighing+scale&tbm=isch&chips=q:weiging+
scale,g_1:digital:SUdVeXzEGVI%3D&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjwrIKPi73rAh
UTMKYKHRp9D_sQ4lYoAXoECAEQFw&biw=1686&bih=821#imgrc=onMEWnIO
JDHxFM

Figure 03:
https://www.google.com/search?q=laboratory+ovens&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj
Nu-W_i73rAhVcTZQKHZz6AM8Q2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=laboratory+ovens&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECAAQQzIECAAQ
QzIKCAAQsQMQgwEQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIHCAAQsQMQQzIHCAAQsQM
QQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzoECCMQJzoFCAAQsQNQtdcBWNPxAW
Ck8wFoAHAAeACAAYoGiAGaF5IBCTItNS4zLjYtMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aX
otaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=2otIX83mCNya0QSc9YP4DA&bih=821&biw=168
6&hl=en#imgrc=c7QwQKMtAiHj-M

Figure 04:
https://www.google.com/search?q=dessicator&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiZupjPi7
3rAhUNHKYKHTUnAR4Q2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=dessicator&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1Dq8wJYtYADYPKCA2gAc
AB4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=-
otIX5nVGo24mAW1zoTwAQ&bih=821&biw=1686&hl=en#imgrc=9AEAz41q7L2U
GM

Figure 05:
https://www.google.com/search?q=tongs&tbm=isch&hl=en&chips=q:tongs,g_1:sc
ience:_1ud2Pk_56g%3D&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ15qsjL3rAhUYAKYKHX
DGCxQQ4lYoAXoECAEQFw&biw=1686&bih=821#imgrc=WORbVDTmN6gB_M