Name: Akeelah Freemantle

Date:

Title: Soil Analysis

Skill: MM

Aim: To compare the drainage and water-holding capacity of soils

Theory:
There are 3 main soil types: sand, silt and clay. An influential factor that shows the way how
soils differ regionally is soil permeability. Permeability refers to the movement of air and
water through the soil, which is important because it affects the supply of root-zone air,
moisture, and nutrients available for plant uptake. Sandy soils are known to have high
permeability, which results in high infiltration rates and good drainage. Silt soils have a
moderate permeability and clay soils are known to have low permeability, which results in
low infiltration rates and poor drainage.

Apparatus:
100ml Measuring Cylinder (2)
30ml Measuring Cup (2)
Funnel (2)
Filter Paper (2)
Stopwatch/Watch

Materials:
Water
Sand
Topsoil

Method:
1. The filter paper was placed into two funnels
2. Each funnel was supported on top of a 100ml measuring cylinder
3. 30ml of sand and topsoil was measured separately in measuring cups
4. Each type of soil was placed into separate funnels
5. 30ml of water was poured into each funnel simultaneously and then the drainage was
collected in the measuring cylinder
6. The time taken between the pouring of the water and when the drainage ceased was
noted
7. After the measurements were taken1233 a labeled drawing of the apparatus for the
two soil types was made

Observations:

Soil Type Water added Water collected Water retained Time Taken
originally (ml) in measuring by soil (ml) (mins)
cylinder (ml)
Sand 30 13 17 19
Topsoil 30 20 10 21
Sample Calculation
Volume of water added originally = x mls
Volume of water collected in the measuring cylinder = y mls

Volume of water retained by the soil = ( x – y ) mls

Volume of water retained by sand = (30-13) mls
= 17 mls

Use the formula above to do the calculations using the data in the table

Discussion:
Do NOT re-write the guiding questions below. Write your discussion in paragraph
form. Discussion must be written in past tense. Do not use personal pronouns.
 Define soil
 Name the different soil types
 Define water drainage and water holding capacity
 State any trends that you noticed in the results- which soil retained the most water and
had had the most drainage and comment on the time that it took.
 Discuss why one soil type retained more water than the other
 Relate to particle size and air space between particles

Soil can be defined as the organic and inorganic materials on the surface of the earth that
provide the medium for plant growth. Sand, silt, loam and clay are the four different soil
types. Water drainage in soil is a natural process by which water moves across, through, and
out of the soil as a result of the force of gravity. Water holding capacity on the other hand
is the amount of water that a given soil can hold for crop use. In the results, it was noticed
that sand retained the most water within 19 minutes and top soil had the most drainage within
a 21 min time period. Sand is generally known for supposedly having the highest
permeability but in this experiment it retained more water than top soil, due to its soil
porosity. Soil porosity refers to the space between soil particles, which consists of various
amounts of water and air. Top soil is a mixture composed of a varying percentage of
materials like sand, silt, clay and broken down organic matter, called humus. a fine soil has
smaller but more numerous pores than a coarse soil. A coarse soil has bigger particles than a
fine soil, but it has less porosity, or overall pore space. Water can be held tighter in small
pores than in large ones, so fine soils can hold more water than coarse soils. Due to the results
of the experiment, it can be said that fine sand was used and the loam’s structure is composed
mostly of course sand reason being why sand retained more water than top soil.

Conclusion:
 To conclude, sand retained more water than top soil and top soil had the more water
drainage of the two soils.

Limitation:
 Sand particles are quite big.
 The pore spaces between the particles in sandy soils are also quite large.
 the geological history of that region in which the samples were taken from