NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

551 MF Jhocson Street, Sampaloc, Manila

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1 LABORATORY

NAME: Wilmer R. Fernandez DATE: April 26, 2021

GROUP #: 3 SECTION: ESE181

EXPERIMENT # 2
DETERMINATION OF WATER CONTENT

I. INTRODUCTION
The water content, also known as natural water content or natural moisture
content of the soil is measured in almost all soil studies. The determination of
water content is required for the majority of soil mechanics laboratory tests. Some
of these laboratory tests involve the calculation of the number of necessary soil
amendments for stabilization and determination of the water holding capacity of
the soil. Water content is defined as the ratio of the weight of water to the weight
of the solids in a given mass of soil. Water content is said to be zero when voids
present on the soil are fully filled with air which is known to be as dry soil.

There are different methods for determining the water content in the soil.
Some of these methods include the oven-dying method, sand bath method,
alcohol method, infrared lamp torsion balance method, etc. In this experiment,
the moisture content will only be determined using only one method which is the
oven-dying method. This method requires the drying of materials at high
temperatures in an oven.

II. OBJECTIVES

• To understand water content

• To estimate the amount of water or moisture present in the given quantity of
soil in terms of its dry weight by heating.
• To determine the average moisture content
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
551 MF Jhocson Street, Sampaloc, Manila
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1 LABORATORY

III. APPARATUS/ EQUIPMENT

EQUIPMENT DEFINITION

This apparatus is available in various

sizes (2 in. diameter and 7⁄8 in. high,
3.5 in. diameter and 2 in high.) It is
used to determine the moisture
contents in soil and other material and
is usually made from aluminum or
stainless steel.

MOISTURE CAN

This equipment is used for drying out

the soil sample. The temperature of
oven is generally kept between 105°C
to 110°C. A higher temperature should
be avoided to prevent the burning of
organic matter in the soil.

OVEN WITH TEMPERATURE

CONTROL

It is a reliable measuring device used

to determine an object’s mass to a very
high degree of precision. The balance
should have a readability of 0.01g for
specimens having a mass of 200g or
less. If the specimen has a mass of
over 200g, the readability should be
0.1g.

BALANCE
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
551 MF Jhocson Street, Sampaloc, Manila
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1 LABORATORY

IV. PROCEDURE

a. Determine the mass of the empty moisture can and its cap. Record the data

b. Place a sample representative moist soil in the can. Make sure to close the can as
well.

c. Determine the combined mass of the closed can and moist soil.
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
551 MF Jhocson Street, Sampaloc, Manila
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1 LABORATORY

d. Remove the cap from the top of the can and place it at the bottom of the can.

e. Put the can, in the oven to dry the soil to a constant weight.

f. Determine the combined mass of the dry soil sample plus the can and its cap.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGg_0ibityQ