INTRODUCTION

This test was performed to determine the water (moisture) content of soils. The water
content is the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the mass of pore or free water in a
given mass of soil to the mass of the dry soil solids. For many soils , the water content may
be extremely important index used for establishing the relationship between the way a soil
behaves and its properties. The consistency of a fine-grained soil largely depends on its
water content. The water content was also used in expressing the phase relationships of air,
water and solids in a given volume of soil.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This experiment was carried out on the 3 rd of December 2015 at the soil lab located at the
Faculty of Civil Engineering, UiTM Pasir Gudang. The materials used in this experiment
were sample of soil, air tight container, scoop of suitable size, moisture cans, weighing
balance, gloves and drying oven. Firstly, two moisture cans were labelled (47 and 67) and
weighed by using the weighing balance. The mass of the two empty moisture cans were
recorded. Next, sample of soil was taken from the air tight container by using the scoop of
suitable size and was placed into the moisture cans. After that, the two moisture cans filled
with sample of soil was weighed using the weighing balance and the data was recorded.
Lastly, gloves were used to handle the two moisture cans filled with sample of soil to be
placed into the drying oven(105 to 110 degree Celsius). The samples were left overnight and
the following the day, the two moisture cans were placed onto the weighing balance and the
data was recorded.
DISCUSSION
With the data collected which was mass of container, (mass of container + moist soil) and
(mass of container + dry soil), other data was obtained such as the mass of water, Mw, was
calculated by subtracting (mass of container + moist soil) with (mass of container + dry soil).
Furthermore, the mass of solid, Ms, was also calculated by subtracting (mass of container +
dry soil) with mass of container. After that, the natural moisture content, Wn, was calculated
in percentile by firstly dividing mass of water, Mw, with mass of soil, Ms, and secondly
multiplying the result of the division by 100%. Lastly, the average initial moisture content
was calculated by adding both values of the natural moisture content and then dividing it by
two. There are a few ways to improve the readings of the data collected is to make sure that

the environment is well suited for this experiment for example wind factor and also make
sure the readings on the weighing balance is taken correctly in order to avoid error. Lastly,
carry out this experiment three times so that a better result can be obtained by calculating the
average of the three trials.
CONCLUSION
The objective of this particular experiment was to obtain and calculate the moisture content
of soil. The findings of this experiment was very knowledgeable and helped us gain a better
understanding regarding Basic Soil Mechanics. In addition to that, teamwork amongst
members was witnessed and present during this experiment as we all know, no man is an
island.
REFERENCE