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Lab Report

Geo-Technical Engineering-1(Lab)
CE-209L

Title;

To find the specific gravity of soil

Instructor;

Dr. Muhammad Shahzad


By;

Liaqat Zaib Khan


17PWAGR0780

Fourth Semester Spring 2019

Department of Agricultural Engineering

University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar,


Pakistan

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Experiment no 2

To Find the Specific Gravity of Soil


Need and Scope:
The knowledge of specific gravity is required in calculation of soil properties like void
ratio, degree of saturation and also weight-volume relationship.

This method covers the determination of specific gravity of soil of medium and course after
sieving through sieve No. 7. The density of a substance is the mass per unit volume of that
substance. The relative density is the density of a substance with reference to density water.

Definition:
Specific gravity G is defined as the ratio of the unit weight (or density) of soil solids only
to unit weight (or density) of water.

For solids, specific gravity is an important parameter. If we consider a soil mix, different
particle in that mix has different specific gravity value. The specific gravity of whole mix is the
average specific gravity of all solid particles present in that mix. For most of the soils, specific
gravity lies in the range of 2.65 to 2.80. It has no units. Below table gives the average specific
gravity values of different soils.

Specific
Soil Type
Gravity

Gravel 2.65 – 2.68

Sand 2.65 – 2.68

Silty sands 2.66 – 2.70

Silt 2.66 – 2.70

Inorganic soil 2.68 – 2.80

Organic Soil <2.00

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There are many methods available to determine the specific gravity of solids but here we
are discussing three methods.

1. Density/specific gravity bottle method


2. Flask method
3. Pycnometer method

Apparatus Required
Density bottle of 50 ml capacity, Flask and Pycnometer, Mortar and Pestle, Digital balance of
accuracy 0.001g, Funnel (optional), Vacuum desiccator, Vacuum pump, Soil samples, Distilled
water, Oven, Constant temperature water bath (27 0C)

Test Procedure
1. Firstly clean the density bottle/flask/Pycnometer and put it in an oven at a temperature of 105 0C to 100 0C
for drying. After drying, put it in the desiccator to cool down.
2. Now the density bottle/flask/Pycnometer along with stopper is weighed using balance to an accuracy of
0.001 gm. Note down this reading as “W1”

3. Take 5 to 10 g of oven dried sample in the density bottle flask/Pycnometer and weigh the bottle along with
stopper and dry sample. Note this reading as “W2”.

4. Now add de-aired distilled water to the soil in the density bottle flask/Pycnometer up to the soil level and
shake gently to mix soil and water.

5. Now remove the stopper of density bottle flask/Pycnometer and place it in vacuum desiccator and connect
the vacuum pump.

6. The air entrapped in the soil is expelled by applying vacuum pressure of 55 cm of mercury for about one
hour in vacuum desiccator.

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7. After that, remove the lid and stir the soil using spatula. The soil adhere to the spatula is washed
into the bottle flask/Pycnometer with air free distilled water. Again apply vacuum pressure for some
time which is stooped when there is no more air evolved from the specimen.

8. The entrapped air can also be removed by heating in the absence of vacuum desiccator.

9. Remove the bottle from the desiccator and add more distilled water until the bottle flask/Pycnometer
is full. Insert the stopper.

10. To attain the constant temperature through the bottle, immerse it into the water bath for one hour.

11. Takeout the bottle from water bath after attaining constant temperature and clean and dry the
outside using smooth cloth.

12. Now the bottle flask/Pycnometer is weighed which is the total mass of bottle, soil and water. Note
down this as “W3”.

13. In the final step, empty the bottle flask/Pycnometer wash it and refill it with only distilled water.
Now also place it in water bath for one hour to maintain same temperature during experiment.

14. Now weight the bottle flask/Pycnometer with


full of distilled water along with stopper
which is “W4”.

15. Now repeat the same procedure for three


times and take the average reading of three
observations as final result.
The specific gravity of solid particles is the ratio of the mass density of solids to that water. It is
determined in the laboratory using the relation

𝑊2 − 𝑊1
𝑆. 𝐺 = ⁄(𝑊 − 𝑊 ) − (𝑊 − 𝑊 )
4 1 3 2

Where W1 = mass of empty bottle


W2 = mass of the bottle and dry soil
W3 = mass of bottle, soil and water
W4 = mass of bottle filled with water only.

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Observation and Calculations
S. no W1(g) W2(g) W3(g) W4(g) Specific Gravity at 14 Degree Celsius S.G at
𝑺. 𝑮 20
𝑾 − 𝑾𝟏 Degree
= 𝟐 ⁄(𝑾 − 𝑾 ) − (𝑾 − 𝑾 )
𝟒 𝟏 𝟑 𝟐 Celsius
Density 13.9 30.4 73.9 64.4 2.31 2.29
bottle
Flask 181.1 504.4 887.2 682.4 2.73 2.71

Pycnometer 377.2 508.8 962.4 884.2 2.43 2.44

Safety & Precautions

 Soil grains whose specific gravity is to be determined should be completely dry.


 If on drying soil lumps are formed, they should be broken to its original size.
 Inaccuracies in weighing and failure to completely eliminate the entrapped air are the main
sources of error. Both should be avoided.

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