9/4/2016 DetermineTheSpecificGravityOfSoil

DetermineTheSpecificGravityOfSoil
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ThistestisdonetodeterminethespecificgravityoffinegrainedsoilbydensitybottlemethodasperIS:2720(Part
III/Sec1)1980.Specificgravityistheratiooftheweightinairofagivenvolume
ofamaterialatastandardtemperaturetotheweightinairofanequalvolumeofdistilledwateratthesamestated
temperature.
Theapparatusused:
i)Twodensitybottlesofapproximately50mlcapacityalongwithstoppers
ii)Constanttemperaturewaterbath(27.0+0.2oC)
iii)Vacuumdesiccator
iv)Oven,capableofmaintainingatemperatureof105to110oC
v)Weighingbalance,withanaccuracyof0.001g
vi)Spatula

PREPARATIONOFSAMPLE
Thesoilsample(50g)shouldifnecessarybegroundtopassthrougha2mmISSieve.A5to10gsubsample
shouldbeobtainedbyrifflingandovendriedatatemperatureof105to110oC.

ProceduretoDeterminetheSpecificGravityofFineGrainedSoil
i)Thedensitybottlealongwiththestopper,shouldbedriedatatemperatureof105to110oC,cooledinthe
desiccatorandweighedtothenearest0.001g(W1).

ii)Thesubsample,whichhadbeenovendriedshouldbetransferredtothedensitybottledirectlyfromthe
desiccatorinwhichitwascooled.Thebottlesandcontentstogetherwiththestoppershouldbeweighedtothe
nearest0.001g(W2).

iii)Coverthesoilwithairfreedistilledwaterfromtheglasswashbottleandleaveforaperiodof2to3hrs.for
soaking.Addwatertofillthebottletoabouthalf.

iv)Entrappedaircanberemovedbyheatingthedensitybottleonawaterbathorasandbath.

v)Keepthebottlewithoutthestopperinavacuumdesiccatorforabout1to2hrs.untilthereisnofurtherlossofair.

vi)Gentlystirthesoilinthedensitybottlewithacleanglassrod,carefullywashofftheadheringparticlesfromthe
rodwithsomedropsofdistilledwaterandseethatnomoresoilparticlesarelost.

vii)Repeattheprocesstillnomoreairbubblesareobservedinthesoilwatermixture.

viii)Observetheconstanttemperatureinthebottleandrecord.

ix)Insertthestopperinthedensitybottle,wipeandweigh(W3).

x)Nowemptythebottle,cleanthoroughlyandfillthedensitybottlewithdistilledwateratthesametemperature.
Insertthestopperinthebottle,wipedryfromtheoutsideandweigh(W4).

xi)Takeatleasttwosuchobservationsforthesamesoil.

REPORTINGOFRESULTS
ThespecificgravityGofthesoil=(W2W1)/[(W41)(W3W2)]
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9/4/2016 DetermineTheSpecificGravityOfSoil

Thespecificgravityshouldbecalculatedatatemperatureof27oCandreportedtothenearest0.01.Iftheroom
temperatureisdifferentfrom27oC,thefollowingcorrectionshouldbedone:
G=kG
where,
G=Correctedspecificgravityat27oC
k=[Relativedensityofwateratroomtemperature]/Relativedensityofwaterat27oC.

Asampleproformafortherecordofthetestresultsisgivenbelow.Relativedensityofwateratvarioustemperatures
istakenfromtablehere.RelativeDensityWater

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