MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building CM Recto Avenue, Manila

CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

Telephone Number: (02) 516 7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254 9967 (Cebu)

Review Module 22 – Geotechnical Engineering 1 [Part 2]

SITUATION.
WEIGHT – VOLUME RELATIONSHIPS The moist unit weight of 0.0102 m^3 of soil is 150.41 N. If the
moisture content and specific gravity of soil solids are
AIR Va determined in the laboratory to be 13.2% and 2.72 respectively.
Calculate the following:
Vv
1. Moist unit weight
Total Total
Weight Volume
Ww WATER Vw V 2. Dry unit weight
=W =V
W
3. Void ratio
4. Porosity
Ws
SOIL 5. Degree of saturation
Vs
SOLIDS
6. Air content
7. Volume occupied by water
W = Ws + Ww SITUATION. (CE Board Nov. 2021)
W = Total Weight
Ws = Weight of Soil Solid A soil in its natural state has a moisture content of 30% and a
Ww = Weight of Water unit weight of 16 kN/m^3. The specific gravity of the soil particles
is 2.50.
V = Vs + Vv 1. Evaluate the void ratio of the soil sample.
V = Vs + Vw + Va 2. Obtain the dry unit weight in kN/m^3.
V = Total Volume 3. Evaluate the degree of saturation in percent.
Vv = Volume of Voids
Vw = Volume of Water SITUATION.
Va = Volume of Air A cylindrical soil sample prepared for laboratory testing has a
diameter of 71mm, a height of 142mm, and weighs 10.675x10-3
Volume Relationships kN. If the degree of saturation is 93% and the specific gravity of
soil solids is 2.71, determine:
1. Void Ratio, e
𝑉𝑣 1. Void ratio
𝑒= 2. Water content
𝑉𝑠
2. Porosity, n 3. Water content under fully saturated condition
𝑉𝑣 𝑒
𝑛= 𝑛=
𝑉 1+𝑒 SITUATION.
The moist unit weight of a soil is 2.1 g/cc. If the water content is
3. Degree of Saturation, S
𝑉𝑤 15.5% and the specific gravity of soil is 2.72. Determine the
𝑆= following:
𝑉𝑣
4. Percentage Air Voids, na
1. Bouyant unit weight
𝑉 2. Weight of water in kN to be added per cu.m of soil for 90%
𝑛𝑎 = 𝑎 𝑛𝑎 = 𝑛(1 − 𝑆)
𝑉 degree of saturation.
5. Air Content, ac 3. Weight of water in kN to be added per cu.m of soil for it to
𝑉
𝑎𝑐 = 𝑎 𝑎𝑐 = 1 − 𝑆 reach fully saturated.
𝑉𝑣

Weight Relationships PYCNOMETER TEST

1. Moisture or water content, 𝜔
𝑊𝑤
𝜔= WATER
𝑊𝑠
2. Unit Weight or Moist Unit Weight, 𝛾
WATER
𝑊
𝛾= DRY DRY
𝑉 SOIL SOIL
3. Dry Unit Weight, 𝛾𝑑
𝑊𝑠 W1 W2 W3 W4
𝛾𝑑 =
𝑉 Empty Container Container Container
Container + Dry Soil + Dry Soil + Water
Relationships among Unit Weight, Void Ratio, Moisture + Water

Content and Specific Gravity

𝜌𝑠 𝑊𝑠 𝑊2 − 𝑊1
𝐺𝑠 = = 𝐺𝑠 =
𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1+𝑒) 𝜌𝑤 𝑊𝑤 (𝑊2 − 𝑊1 ) − (𝑊3 − 𝑊4 )
𝐺𝑠 𝜔 = 𝑒𝑆 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 = 1+𝑒

𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1+𝜔)
𝛾= 𝛾′ = 𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 − 𝛾𝑤
1+𝑒

𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 𝑠 𝑤 𝐺𝛾
𝛾𝑑 = 𝛾𝑧𝑎𝑣 = 1+𝐺
1+𝑒 𝜔 𝑠
 MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building CM Recto Avenue, Manila
CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City
Telephone Number: (02) 516 7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254 9967 (Cebu)

Review Module 22 – Geotechnical Engineering 1 [Part 2]

PROBLEM.
An oven dried soil having weight of 200 g is placed in
pycnometer which is then completely filled with water. The total
weight of the pycnometer with water and soil inside is 1605 g.
The pycnometer filled with water alone has a weight of 1480 g.
Calculate the specific gravity of the soil.

SITUATION.
In a specific gravity test, the following data were recorded.
Mass of pycnometer jar = 520 g
Mass of pycnometer jar when full of clean water = 1600 g
Mass of pycnometer containing dry soil only = 950 g
Mass of pycnometer jar containing soil and topped with water =
1870 g
1. Determine the specific gravity of soil sample.
2. If the void ratio is 0.55, what is the dry unit weight of the soil?
3. Compute the degree of saturation when the moisture content
is 15%.

APPARENT SPECIFIC GRAVITY

Mass/Bulk/ Apparent Specific Gravity, Gm

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙

𝐺𝑚 = 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

𝛾 𝜌
𝐺𝑚 = =
𝛾𝑤 𝜌𝑤

PROBLEM.
A soil sample with specific gravity of solids 2.70 has a mass
specific gravity of 1.84. Assuming soil to be perfectly dry,
determine the void ratio of the soil mass.

PROBLEM.
The mass specific gravity of a saturated specimen of clay is 1.84
when the water content is 38%. Determine the specific gravity of
solids.