University of Bahrain

College of engineering
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture

Soil Mechanics Laboratory Report

Experiment Report 1

Part1: Specific Gravity

Part 2: Determination of the particle size distribution of a
soil

Done by:

Salman Almajid

Group members:
Mohamed Alkhayyat
Ali Abdulla
Ebrahim Almalki
Abdulaziz Alkaabie
Khalid AlGhareeb

Test Date: 2-27-2012

Due Date: 3-05-2012

Table of Contents

Part1: Specific Gravity

Table of Contents.............................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................3
Background Theory..........................................................................................3
Objective .........................................................................................................3
Material used:...................................................................................................3
Procedure.........................................................................................................3
Equipments......................................................................................................4
Results.............................................................................................................4
Sample of calculation....................................................................................4
Discussion and Conclusion................................................................................5
Introduction......................................................................................................6
Background theory...........................................................................................6
Objective .........................................................................................................7
Material used....................................................................................................7
Procedure.........................................................................................................7
Equipments...................................................................................................7
Results.............................................................................................................7
Sample1........................................................................................................9
Sample2........................................................................................................9
Discussion and Conclusion..............................................................................11

Part 1
Specific Gravity
Introduction
Specific Gravity of solids is the ratio of the mass of solid to the mass of water
at a temperature of 4C having same volume of the solid. Water has specific
gravity of 1, so if the soil have greater than 1, it sinks in water.

Background Theory
Specific Gravity, Gs = s/ w where,
s => density of substance
w => density of water at 4C
Gs = (Ms/V) / (Mw/V)

Objective
To familiarize the reader with a general method of obtaining the specific
gravity of a mass of any type of material composed of small particles which
have a specific gravity greater than 1.00. This determination is applicable to
soil and fine aggregates as used in concrete and asphalt mixes.

Material used:
De-aired distilled water, soil samples (Clay, sand and soil grains)

Procedure
The density bottle is thoroughly cleaned and dried and weighted with it is
stopper (W1). 5 10 grams of the sample is placed in the density bottle and
weighted (W2). De-dried distilled water is added to the bottle to cover the soil
and the whole is gently subjected to a vacuum in a desiccators until no more

air is seemed to be removed. The bottle is vibrated and the process repeated
until no more air is released. More de-dried distilled water is added to fill the
density bottle, the stopper is fitted and the whole is left at a constant
temperature of 20 C for 1 hour. If there is a decrease in the volume of water,
more is added. When there is no apparent decrease in the volume of water the
exterior of the bottle is dried and the whole is weighted (W3).
The bottle is then thoroughly cleansed and filled with de-dried distilled water,
closed and allowed to stand for 1 hour after which, if there is no apparent
decrease in the water volume, it is weighted (W4). The specific gravity of the
solid particles is found from the following expression:

Gs =

W2 W1
(W4 W1) (W3 W2)

Equipments
Density Bottle, funnel, weighing scale .

Results
Sample 1

Sample

Sample 2

Test 1

Test 2

Test 1

Test 2

Mass of empty bottle

57.47

43.15

32.76

24.49

Mass of bottle + dry sample

Mass of bottle + sample +
water
Mass of bottle + water

64.97

51.68

50.31

42.89

159.3

151.3

89.1

86.1

78.3

74.7

2.6

2.628571

Specific gravity
Average specific gravity

154.7
146.4
2.58620 2.34986
7
2
2.468034578

Sample of calculation
Gs =

64.97 57.47
(154.7 57.47) (159.3 64.97)

= 2.586207

2.614285714

Discussion and Conclusion

We obtained the average specific gravity for two soil samples by two tests.
The first soil sample had an average specific gravity of 2.47 which falls in the
organic soil range (table 2.2). Whereas, sample2 had a 2.61 specific gravity
which falls in the sand range.
We experienced slight error in the experiment. This is due to:
1) Air bubble inside the Density Bottle
2) The temperature of the room may not be constant throughout the
experiment.
3) We placed the stopper upside down.
4) Inaccuracy of the weighing scale.
5) Clay particles present around the density bottle mouth and not mixed
with water. Therefore, it is not saturated.

Part 2
Determination of the particle size
distribution of a soil
Introduction
Sieve analysis method is used to classify the soil according to the particle size
and determining its distribution as a cumulative percentage of the original
mass. The particle sizes are divided into 6 categories namely clay, silt, sand,
gravel, cobbles and boulders. Each of silt, sand and clay are further classified
into fine, medium and course.
Particle size distribution in a soil helps to predict properties such as
permeability and capillary. The values help us to plot graph between
percentage passing and particle sizes.

Background theory
Parameters determinable from the particle size distribution curves:
(i)

Effective size: D10

D-Denotes the grain size; a subscript to D such as 10 denotes the

percentage that is smaller
(D10 = 0.15 means that 10% of the sample is smaller than 0.155 mm)
(ii)
Coefficient of uniformity: Cu = D60/D10 shows the spread of grain
sizes. If Cu is high it indicates that the particles differ appreciably.
(iii) Coefficient of gradation (curvature): Cc=D230/(D10D30), is a measure
of the shape of the curve between D60 and D10 grain sizes.

Objective
To familiarize the reader with methods of analyzing the particles size
distribution in a soil

Material used

Soil samples

Procedure
In this experiment, we performed the dry sieve method. This method is done
by stacking the sieves appropriately and then sieving the soil directly. The
sieve stack have sieves that decrease in size from up to down. We place the
stack in a mechanical vibrator to distribute the soil particle in their respective
sieve sizes. After that, we take every sieve alone and measure the weight of
the soil particles in them. Then, we calculate the percent retained for each
sieve size. Lastly we draw the particle size distribution graph and find the
grain sizes from the graph to calculate effective size, uniformity and gradation.

Equipments
1) Set of sieves
2) Mortar and pestle or a mechanical soil pulveriser
3) Balance (sensitive to 0.01g)
4) Mechanical shaker

Results

BS test sieve
size (mm)
75 mm
63 mm
50 mm
37.5 mm
28 mm

Mass
retained
g
0.00
0.00
113.50
112.40

Mass
Retained
g
0.00
0.00
105.31
104.29

Total Mass
retained

0.00
0.00
105.31
209.59

Percent
retained
%
0.00
0.00
21.06
41.92

Total
Passing
%
100.00
100.00
100.00
78.94
58.08

20 mm

13.50

12.53

222.12

44.42

55.58

14 mm
10 mm
6.3 mm

92.50
98.50
108.50
538.90

85.82
91.39
100.67
500.00

307.94
399.33
500.00

61.59
79.87
100.00

38.41
20.13
0.00

Total

BS test sieve
size (mm)

Mass
retained

Mass
Retained
g

Total Mass
retained

Percent
retained

Total
Passing
%

5 mm

%
100

3.35 mm

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

100.00

2 mm

7.50

7.50

7.50

1.07

98.93

1.18 mm

16.00

16.00

23.50

3.36

96.64

600 micron

75.00

75.00

98.50

14.07

85.93

425 micron

64.50

64.50

163.00

23.29

76.71

300 micron

75.00

75.00

238.00

34.00

66.00

212 micron

91.50

91.50

329.50

47.07

52.93

150 micron

141.50

141.50

471.00

67.29

32.71

63 micron

206.00

206.00

677.00

96.71

3.29

19.50

23.00

700.00

100.00

0.00

696.50

700.00

Passing 63
micron
Total

Sample1
D10 = 0.08 mm

D30 = 0.15 mm

D60 = 0.25 mm

Cu = D60/D10

= 0.25/0.08 =3.125

Cc = D302/(D10*D60)

= 0.152/(0.08*0.25)

= 1.125

Sand: 99% of the sample

Gravel: 1% of the sample

Sample2
D10 = 8 mm

D30 = 12 mm

D60 = 29 mm

Cu = D60/D10

= 29/8

=3.625

Cc = D302/(D10*D60)

= 122/(8*29)

= 0.621

Sand: 0% of the sample

Gravel: 100% of the sample

Discussion and Conclusion