WATER CONTENT OF GIVEN SOIL SAMPLE BY OVEN-DRYING METHOD lab report

TITLE:

TO DETERMINE THE WATER CONTENT OF THE GIVEN SOIL SAMPLE BY OVEN-DRYING METHOD:

OBJECTIVES:

1. To calculate the water content of soil sample in laboratory accurately.

THEORY:

Water content or moisture content is defined as the ratio of the mass of water to the mass of the dry soil.

This is the most accurate method of determining the water content, and is therefore, used in laboratory.

 let,

`M_1=`mass of container (along with lid)

`M_2=` mass of container with lid + moist soil

`M_3=`mass of container with lid+dry soil

Now, the water content is given by,

`w=M_w/M_s`

`=(M_2-M_3)/(M_3-M_1)`

APPARATUS REQUIRED:

• Non-corrodible air-tight containers, 

• balance, 

• Desiccator with any suitable desiccating agent,

• Thermostatically controlled oven

PROCEDURES:

TITLE:

TO DETERMINE THE WATER CONTENT OF THE GIVEN SOIL SAMPLE BY OVEN-DRYING METHOD:

OBJECTIVES:

1. To calculate the water content of soil sample in laboratory accurately.

THEORY:

Water content or moisture content is defined as the ratio of the mass of water to the mass of the dry soil.

This is the most accurate method of determining the water content, and is therefore, used in laboratory.

 let,

`M_1=`mass of container (along with lid)

`M_2=` mass of container with lid + moist soil

`M_3=`mass of container with lid+dry soil

Now, the water content is given by,

`w=M_w/M_s`

`=(M_2-M_3)/(M_3-M_1)`

APPARATUS REQUIRED:

• Non-corrodible air-tight containers, 

• balance, 

• Desiccator with any suitable desiccating agent,

• Thermostatically controlled oven

PROCEDURES:

1. The container was cleaned and its mass with lid was found out, say `M_1`.

2. The container was then filled with required quantity of moist sample of soil and weighted again, say `M_2`.

3. The container was then kept in the oven between the temperature of about `105^0C` to `110^0C`, for about 16 to 24 hours.

4. The container was then taken out of the oven, cooled and weighed again,say `M_3`.

OBSERVATIONS:

 Weight of empty container,`M_1=0.0112\ kg`

 Weight of container+moist soil,`M_2=0.0719\ kg`

Weight of container+dry soil,`M_3=0.0596\ kg`

CALCULATIONS:

The water content of soils,w is given by:

`w=(M_2-M_3)/(M_3-M_1)`

`=(0.0719-0.0596)/(0.0596-0.0112)`

`=0.254`

`=25.4%`

RESULTS:

Thus, the water content of the given soil sample was found to be `25.4%`.

SOURCES OF ERRORS:

1. Oven drying at `105^0 C` to `110^0 c` doesnt result in reliable water content values for Soil containing gypsum or other minerals having loosely bound water of hydration or for soil containing significant amount of organic material.

2. There may be slight error while observing weight.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Weight observation should be taken carefully.

2. The specimen should be dried in the oven to constant mass indicated by the difference between two consecutive mass of the container with the dried specimen, taken at suitable intervals after initial drying, being a maximum of `0.1 %` of the original mass of the soil specimen.

CONCLUSIONS:

Thus,the water content of the given soil sample was determined in the laboratory using oven-drying method.