MAPUA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND
GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
SOIL MECHANICS AND MATERIALS TESTING
LABORATORY
NAME: PANGIBITAN, GEOJANNI R.
COURSE & SECTION: CE161P-2 / A5 STUDENT NO.: 2018109231 _
EXPERIMENT NO. 2
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF SOIL SOLIDS
TITLE
DATE PERFORMED: SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
DATE SUBMITTED: SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 GRADE
ENGR. TIMOTHY DANIEL DJ. FELICIA
INSTRUCTOR
Experiment No. 2
SPECIFIC GRAVITY IN SOIL SOLIDS
OBJECTIVE
This method is intended to determine the absolute specific gravity of the soil by
pycnometer.
PROCEDURE
In the computation of the specific gravity of a soil from laboratory, the weight of
the pycnometer filled with distilled water at the test temperature will be needed. This
value is usually taken from a plot of temperature versus weight of bottle plus water.
The plot, or calibration curve, can be determined either by experimental or by
theoretical means:
I. BOTTLE CALIBRATION
A. Experimental Procedure: This procedure consists of obtaining at least three sets
of concurrent temperature and weight measurements about 4 °C apart and within
the temperature range of 20 °C to 30 °C. Each set representing the coordinates
for a point on the calibration curve, is obtained as follows:
1. To a clean pycnometer, add de-aired distilled water at room temperature until the
bottom of the meniscus is at the calibration mark.
2. Carefully dry the outside of the bottle and the inside of the neck above the water
surface.
3. Weigh the bottle plus water in a balance sensitive to 0.01 g.
4. Measure the water temperature to 0.1 °C. Hold the tip of the thermometer at
different elevation within the water to see if the temperature is uniform. The
recorded temperature inserted to the depth at which the thermometer is designed
to read. (This depth is usually marked on the thermometer).
5. If the temperature is non-uniform, place the thumb over the open end of the bottle
and turn it upside down and back to mix the water thoroughly for a temperature
observation.
6. Heat the bottle of water slightly by placing it in a warm water bath and repeat 2-5,
each time removing enough water to bring the meniscus down to the calibration
mark. Repeat this procedure until enough points are obtained to plot the
calibration curve as shown in Figure 1.
B. Theoretical Procedure
Points for the calibration curve can be obtained successively substituting different
temperatures in the following equation:
𝑊2 = 𝑊𝐵 + 𝑉𝐵 (1 + ∆𝑇 ∙ 𝜀)(𝛾𝑇 − 𝛾𝐴 )
Where:
𝑊2 = weight of pycnometer bottle and water (grams)
𝑊𝐵 = weight of clean dry pycnometer bottle (grams)
𝑉𝐵 = calibrated volume of pycnometer bottle at 𝑇𝐶 (mL)
∆𝑇 = 𝑇 − 𝑇𝑐 (°C)
𝑇 = temperature at which 𝑊2 is desired (°C)
𝑇𝐶 = calibration temperature of pycnometer bottle (usually at 20 °C)
𝜀 = thermal coefficient of cubical expansion for Pyrex glass = 0.100 × 10−4 per °C
𝛾𝑇 = unit weight of water at temperature T
𝛾𝐴 = unit weight of air at temperature T and atmosphere pressure = 0.0012
gram/cc
𝑉𝐵 = calibrated volume of clean, dry pycnometer bottle at 𝑇𝐶
The only bit data needed is the wight of the pycnometer, which must be
absolutely clean and dry. A good practice is to obtain one checkpoint for the
calibration curve by the previously described experimental method.
II. SPECIFIC GRAVITY CALIBRATION
A. Cohesionless Soil
1. Put approximately 150 g of oven-dry soil, weighted to 0.01 g into a calibrated
pycnometer which is already half full of deaired, distilled. Be sure no soil grains
are lost when they are put into the pycnometer.
2. Remove the air, which is entrapped in the soil by 10 minutes of boiling;
accompany the boiling with continuous agitation. The application of a partial
vacuum to the suspension of soil in water to the lower boiling temperature is
desirable since the lower temperature at which the suspension is boiled, the less
the cooling which will have to be done later. Graph 1, a plot of boiling temperature
of pure water against applied pressure, indicates the effect of reduced pressure
on boiling temperature.
3. Cool the bottle and suspension to some temperature withing the range of the
calibration curve of the bottle.
4. Add water to bring the bottom of the meniscus to the calibration mark.
5. Dry the outside of the bottle and the inside of the neck above the meniscus.
6. Weigh the bottle with water and soil in it 0.01 g calibration.
7. After checking to be sure that the content of the bottle at a uniform temperature,
record the pressure (See Step 4 of the experimental calibration).
B. Cohesive Soil
1. Work a sample of the soil to be soil tested into a smooth paste by mixing it with
distilled water. The sample used should contain approximately 50 g in dry weight.
2. Pour the paste into a calibrated pycnometer.
3. Remove the entrapped air, cool and obtain the weight and temperature as done
in steps 2 – 7 of the procedure for the cohesionless soil.
4. Pour the entire mixture of the soil and water into a large evaporating dish of known
weight, rinse the pycnometer carefully to ensure the collection of all the soil.
5. Dry the soil in the over, cool and weigh. The dry weight of soil grains can be
obtained by subtracting the weight of the empty dish from the weight of the dish
with soil in it.
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
Balance, sensitive to 0.1 grams
• Balance, sensitive to 0.1 grams – device used for measuring weight of the
containers and soil samples.
Pycnometer
• Pycnometer – a glass flask with a close-fitting ground glass stopper with a
capillary hole through it.
Thermometer, graduated to 0.1 °C
• Thermometer – used for measuring the temperature of soil samples
Water bath
• Water bath – used for asphalt (marshal or bitumen testing), cement (curing and
conditioning) applications.
Evaporating dishes
• Evaporating dishes – these are used for evaporation of solutions and
supernatant liquids to produce a concentrated solution or a solid precipitate of the
dissolved substance.
Medicine dropper or pipette
• Medicine dropper or pipette – a utensil or apparatus used to transfer small
amount or quantities of liquids.
APPLICATION
The specific gravity of a given material is defined as the weight ratio of a certain
material volume to the weight of the distilled water equal volume. The specific gravity
of the soil solids (often referred to as the specific gravity of the ground) is an important
parameter in soil mechanics to compute the relationship between the weight and the
volume. Therefore, specific gravity, Gs, is defined as Gs = unit weight (or density) of
soil solids only all over the unit weight (or density) of water. This can also be
𝑊𝑠 /𝑉𝑠 𝑊
represented through the equation: 𝐺𝑠 = = 𝑉 𝜌𝑠 , where Ws is the mass of soil
𝜌2 𝑠 𝑤
solids in grams, Vs as the volume of soil solids in cubic meters, and pw as the density
of water in grams per cubic meter.
The engineers can learn about the characteristics of soil at a construction site
differently. One of the most important is to test the specific gravity of soils.
In contrast with the water mass at the same volume the "specific gravity" of soil
and soils is referring to the density of the soil solids. The term "specific" is a bit
deceptive since soil solids consist of so many distinct particles, each of which has
distinctive gravity measurements. The basic severity of the soil solid is therefore an
average of the particular gravity of all soil particles included. The specific gravity
typically decreases from 2.65 to 2.80, with coarser soils having lower specific
gravities generally than finer soils.
The knowledge of the specific gravity of soils helps engineers understand the
porous nature or number of voids in the soil. It also shows how the ground is saturated
with water. Engineers make significant calculations using these measurements to
determine whether the soil is stable enough to support a structure and allow for
proper drainage at a site.
For the construction of the foundations of any structure, geotechnical engineers
also need the precise gravity of the soil grains. In general, the term soil solid means
mineral parts which are not readily soluble in water.
TECHNICAL OBSERVATION
In the design and construction of any structure the engineering properties of the
soil play a significant role. The various engineering properties of the soil therefore
need to be determined. One of the engineering properties of soil is its strong gravity.
The degree of saturation and unit weight of moist soil are useful to assess. In
pressurizing and stability problems with soil engineering, unit weights are necessary.
Specific gravity refers to the ratio of the weight at a normal temperature of a
given number of soil solids to the weight at that temperature of a distilled water
equivalent in amount.
𝛾
In the video, they used the formula 𝐺 = 𝛾 𝑠 . The method that they used in
𝑤
determining the specific gravity of soil was the density bottle method unlike what is
listed in the laboratory manual. NCTEL mentioned that the density bottle method is
the most accurate and suitable for all types of soil. They also mentioned that the flask
and pycnometer method can be used for coarse grain soil.
The density bottle method is the standard method used in the laboratory. The
apparatus required to conduct the test in the video were density bottle (50 mL
capacity) with a stopper, a constant temperature water bath, desiccator, a
thermostatically controlled oven, a balance, a plastic wash bottle containing distilled
bottle, and the prepared soil sample.
The procedure in the laboratory manual and the procedure in the video done by
NCTEL was quite different from each other. They took a density bottle with a stopper
and dried it in the oven at a temperature within the range of 105 °C to 110 °C and
eventually pulled out after several minutes. The density bottle was then cooled inside
the desiccator and then its weight was measured and denoted as W1. The value of
the bottle was recorded in the data sheet. After doing so, they took a soil sample of
about 10 to 20 grams from the prepared sample and dried it within the same
temperature range where the density bottle was dried. It was also cooled down inside
the desiccator. The dried soil was then transferred carefully in the density bottle. After
transferring, the weight of the density bottle with soil sample was then measured. The
weight measured was denoted as W2 and was recorded again in the data sheet.
They added some distilled water in the soil sample inside the density bottle and
ensured that the soil is fully soaked. They left the soaked soil sample within two to
ten hours. After this, they added more distilled water until the bottle is about half-full
and removed the entrapped air. After doing so, they filled the bottle completely with
water. The bottle filled with water was placed in the constant water bath for about one
hour. This was done so that the temperature of soil and water in the bottle also
reaches 27 °C. The capillary of the stopper was filled with water in case the density
bottle is not full. The weight of the bottle was then measured and was denoted as W3.
The density bottle was then emptied and cleaned thoroughly. After filling it with
distilled water, the stopper was put on and dried from the outside. The weight was
measured and denoted as W4 and recorded in the data sheet. After this, the specific
gravity was calculated. The experiment was tested two more times for them to attain
the goal of determining the specific gravity of the soil sample they have selected.
REFERENCES
• Specific Gravity of Soils. Retrieved September 4, 2020 from
[Link]
• What is the use of specific gravity in civil field? Retrieved September 4, 2020
from [Link]
field
• Specific Gravity of Soil. Retrieved September 4, 2020 from
[Link]
OKaw&fbclid=IwAR05UETr0u9eZfwWvyr-r5pzM9IhOu8NxhNcXUjjSJyJ5Y-
tCeIZH36jfcw
• Role of Geotechnical Properties of Soil in Civil Engineering Structures..
Retrieved September 4, 2020 from
[Link]
