Determination of specific gravity of soil

AIM 

Determine the specific gravity of soil fraction passing 4.75 mm I.S sieve by density bottle.

THEORY

Specific gravity G is defined as the ratio of the weight of an equal volume of distilled water at that temperature both weights taken in air. that temperature both weights taken in air.

APPARATUS

Density bottle of 50 ml with stopper having capillary hole, Balance to weigh the materials (accuracy10gm), Wash bottle with distilled water, Alcohol and ether.

PROCEDURE
1. Clean and dry the density bottle
a. wash the bottle with water and allow it to drain.
b. Wash it with alcohol and drain it to remove water.
c. Wash it with ether, to remove alcohol and drain ether.
2. Weigh the empty bottle with stopper (W1)
3. Take about 10 to 20 gm of oven soil sample which is cooled in a desiccator. Transfer it to the bottle. Find the weight of the bottle and soil (W2).
4. Put 10ml of distilled water in the bottle to allow the soil to soak completely. Leave it for 2hours.
5. Again fill the bottle completely with distilled water put the stopper and keep the bottle under constant temperature water baths (Tx0 ).
6. Take the bottle outside and wipe it clean and dry note. Now determine the weight of the bottle and the contents (W3).
7. Now empty the bottle and thoroughly clean it. Fill the bottle with only disttiled water and weigh it. Let it be W4 at temperature (Tx0 C).
8. Repeat the same process for 2 to 3 times, to take the average reading of it.

OBSERVATIONS

S. No.	Observation Number	1	2	3
1 2 3 4	Weight of density bottle (W1 g) Weight of density bottle + dry soil (W2g) Weight of bottle + dry soil + water (W3 g) Weight of bottle + water (W4 g)

CALCULATIONS

RESULT: specific gravity of soil -------------
Unless or otherwise specified specific gravity values reported shall be based on water at 270C.
The specific gravity of the soil particles lie with in the range of 2.65 to 2.85. Soils
containing organic matter and porous particles may have specific gravity values below
2.0. Soils having heavy substances may have values above 3.0.

Geotechnicial Engineering laboratory test

1. Physical properties of minerals
2. Determination of natural moisture of soil
3. Determination of specific gravity of soil
4. Sand replacement method
5. Sieve analysis-Grain distribution
6. Hydrometer analysis of soil
7. Determination of liquid limit
8. Determination of Plastic limit
9. Determination of Shrinkage limit
10. Direct shear test
11. Proctor test