LA SALLE UNIVERSITY OZAMIZ CITY

Civil Engineering Department

CIV 321
Name: Guhan Dayuday Instructor: Engr. Grace Dollosso
Date Performed: 02/20/2023 Date Due: 02/21/2023
Group No.: Grade:

EXPERIMENT NO. 2

DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE CONTENT

(ASTM D2216)

I. Objective:

Students are tasks to:

a.) Determine the differences in weight between the various states of the soil.
b.) Identify the water/moisture content of the gathered soil sample.
c.) Familiarize the specific gravity of different kinds of soil.

II. Discussion:

The determination of the water content is an important requirement in laboratory tests

and is part of the test included in more elaborate tests. Water content is an important
measure in the compaction of soil. In order that correct water content is obtained from
a soil sample, several samples at different points must be taken. They are then mixed,
and the water content is obtained from this soil sample.

III. Significance:
 The laboratory experiment signifies the importance of the soil’s moisture/water
content. This factor can be of great significance to the field of civil engineering as its
projects revolves surveying areas in which construction is ideal. This includes
determining the soil’s strength that holds a key point in planning an infrastructure’s
foundation as well as any other civil engineering projects. Moisture content, MC, or w,
is the ratio of the weight/mass of water in the soil to the weight/mass of the dry soil
after it has been dried to constant weight/mass at a temperature of 110 ± 5C.

IV. Apparatus:

1. Balance, sensitive to 0.1g. 3. Container

2. Oven with temperature control 4. Desiccator

V. Size of Sample

The minimum weight of the sample, which depends on the maximum grain size, shall be
as follows:
Weight, min.
No. 0.425mm material 25 g
No. 2.00mm material 50 g
No. 4.75mm material 100 g

VI. Procedure:

1.
Weigh the container without the soil sample and record as Wc.
2.
Weigh the container and soil sample and record as W1.
3.
Dry the container with the soil sample at a constant temperature of 110±5C. The
drying time will depend upon the size and type of soil. A 25 g sandy soil can be dried
in about 2 hours, while the weight/mass of a plastic, fine-grained soil will require at
least 4 hours to dry to constant weight/mass.
4.
Remove the container from the oven and cool to room temperature. Weight and
record as W2.

A sample may be cooled at room humidity if it is weighed within an hour after it has
been removed from the oven. If it cannot be weighed within this period, it should be
placed in a desiccator to cool to room temperature. This is especially significant if the
soil is very plastic, and the room humidity is high. Weighing hot containers is not
 advisable as it affects the accuracy of the results.

VII. Calculation

W 1−W 2
Moisture Content , MC %= x 100
W 2−Wc

VIII. Observation:

The students are tasks to collect samples of soils, placed in a container for its
weight to determine the moisture content. The sample is taken in the school
grounds “oval”. The experiment portrays that factors are involved in affecting the
moisture content of the soil, it is evident as these past few days there were
constant rainfalls that had occurred in the area in which the sample has been
taken.
IX. Conclusion:

The experiment was concluded to be a success as the students thoroughly

gathered data and determined the moisture content for their samples. The
experiment indicates that factors are most likely involved in affecting its moisture
content, this is referenced to a study in Cambridge University Press where it is
stated that “Soil moisture is affected by various factors including terrain, soil
characteristics, climate and vegetation, and the effects of these change with time
(e.g., rainfall patterns) and space (e.g., soil depth).”

(Factors influencing soil moisture in the Loess Plateau, China: a review, Published
online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2018 Wenwu ZHAO, Xuening
FANG,Stefani DARYANTO, Xiao ZHANG and Yaping WANG)

X. Illustration:
 LA SALLE UNIVERSITY OZAMIZ CITY
Civil Engineering Department

CIV 321
Name: Guhan Dayuday Instructor: Engr. Grace Dollosso
Date Performed: 02/20/2023 Date Due: 02/21/2023
Group No.: Grade:

EXPERIMENT NO. 2

Worksheet for Moisture Content

Determination

Trial No. 1 2 3
Mass of container + wet specimen (g)
25g 50g 100g

Mass of container + oven-dried specimen (g)

21.8 43.3 92,2

Mass of container (g)

11g 11g 11g

Mass of water (g)

3.2g 6,7g 7.8g

Mass of solid particles, Ms (g)

10.8g 32,3g 81.2g

Moisture Content (%)

29.69% 20.74% 9.61%

Student’s Signature Instructor’s Signature

Over Printed Name