The City College of New York

Department of Civil Engineering

CE 345: Soil Mechanics
Instructor: Dr. George Mylonakis

LAB EXPERIMENT #1:

DETERMINATION OF WATER CONTENT

Introduction

Water content, w, is defined as the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the weight of water in a given soil
mass to the weight of solid particles. For best results, the minimum size of the moist soil specimens should
be as given in Table1.

Table 1. Minimum Soil Sample Sizes

Maximum U.S. Sieve No. Minimum Mass of

particle size Soil Sample
(mm) (gm)
0.425 40 20
2.0 10 50
4.75 4 100
9.5 3/8 in. 500
19.0 3/4 in. 2500

Apparatus

1. Moisture cans, available in various sizes (e.g. 2 diameter by 7/8 height, 3.5 diameter by 2 height,
etc.).

2. Oven with temperature control to maintain a uniform temperature of 105 to 110 C throughout the oven.
For certain organic (peaty) soils, soils containing gypsum, certain clays and some tropical soils, oven
temperature should be 60 C to avoid changing the soil characteristics.

3. Balance with a sensitivity of 0.01g for specimens having a mass of 200g or less. If the specimen has a
mass over 200g, the sensitivity should be 0.1g.

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Procedure

1. Determine and record the mass (in grams) of the empty moisture can plus its cap (W1).

2. Place a sample of representative moist soil in the can. Place the cap on the can in order to prevent loss
of moisture.

3. Determine the combined mass of the closed can and moist soil (W2).

4. Remove the cap from the top and place it on the bottom of the can.

5. Place the open can, with its lid, into the oven in order to dry the soil to a constant weight. In most
cases, this should take no more than 24 hours.

6. Determine the combined mass of dry soil sample plus the can and its cap (W3)

7. Perform these steps for a total of three samples.

Calculation

1. Calculate the mass of moisture = W2 W3

2. Calculate the mass of dry soil = W3 W1

3. Calculate the water content

w (%) = [(W2 W3) * 100] / (W3W1)

Report the water content to the nearest 1% or 0.1% as appropriate, based on the size of the specimen.

General discussion

Most natural soils, which are sandy and gravelly in nature, may have water content of about 15-20%. For
fine-grained soils, water contents up to about 50-80% can be found. However, peat and highly organic soils
with water contents up to about 500% are not uncommon.

Sources of errors

1. Specimen not representative.

2. Specimen too small.
3. Loss of moisture before weighing the specimen.
4. Incorrect temperature of oven.
5. Specimen removed from oven before obtaining constant oven-dry weight.
6. Gain of moisture before weighting oven-dry specimen.
7. Weighing oven-dry specimen while still hot.
8. Incorrect weight of moisture cans.

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DATA SHEET: Determination of Water Content

Description of soil: ______________________________

Sample No.: _____________________________________

Location: _____________________________________

Tested by: _____________________________________

Group No.: _____________________________________

Date: ____________________________________________

Item Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

Can No.

Mass of can, W1 (g)

Mass of can + wet soil, W2 (g)

Mass of can + dry soil, W3 (g)

Mass of moisture, W2 W3 (g)

Mass of dry soil, W3 W1 (g)

Moisture content, w(%) = [ (W2 - W3)*100 ] /(W3 - W1)

Average moisture content, w ________________________ %

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