Soils 1100: Principle of Soil Science (Laboratory) Laboratory Exercise

No.1: The Origin of Soils

Objectives:
•Differentiate various physical characteristics of soil forming rocks and minerals;
•Familiarize with some of the agriculturally important minerals; and,
•Identify some essential nutrient elements derived from common rocks.

Procedure:
•Characterization of rocks and minerals
oObserved and list down the different rocks and minerals provided by your laboratory
instructor.
oClassify and characterize the minerals according to their groupings as follows:
- Rocks: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic
- Minerals: primary (quartz, feldspar, mica, carbonate); secondary (iron, gypsum, and clay)
oObserve the color and luster of the different minerals given. Other physical characteristics
such as hardness, streak, cleavage/fracture and specific gravity will be given as your assignment to be filled up
in the report sheet.
oIdentify the chemical components of each rock and minerals you have listed. You may find
this in reference books.
oAs class requirements, collect and submit rock samples which may be used for display in the
soil museum found in the local area.

Laboratory Exercise No. 2: Soil Profile

Source: https://www.sciencefacts.net/soil-horizons.html

Objectives:
•Differentiate soils in each horizon of a particular area;
•Experience how to characterize a soil profile; and
•Able to describe a soil profile and understand the physical and chemical processes of weathering in
relation to the factors of soil development.
Procedure:
1. Select a site where typical soil profile can be shown. Dig a pit of 1m x 1m size with two meter depth. 2.
Measure the depth of each horizon and put a marker or stick on each identified layer. 3. Characterize the soil
profile by identifying the physical properties of the different layers of soil horizons. Record your observations
on the report sheet.
4. Collect soil from each horizon and determine the color through a Munsell color chart, texture, friability,
structure and other observations, like presence of roots, rocks and pebbles.

Source: https://dirtartful.com/2013/07/15/make-your-own-soil-color-book/

Laboratory Exercise No. 3: Soil Texture

Source: https://soilsensor.com/articles/soil-textures/
Objectives:
• get acquainted with the different methods for soil texture determination;
• understand the significance of soil texture to crop growth and development; and,
• learn the principle of particle size distribution.

Materials:
• Air dried soil samples collected from the soil profile and sieved to 2 mm size
• Dispersing agent (4% Na-hexametaphosphate or calgon solution). Dissolve 7.94 g sodium carbonate and 35.7
g sodium hexametaphosphate and dilute to 1 liter with distilled water. (Note: heat Na-carbonate solution
to dissolve, then add Na-hexametaphosphate and volume to 1 L)
• 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask with cover, wash bottle
• distilled water, plunger, graduated cylinder, soil hydrometer, weighing balance

Procedure:
A. Determination of Soil Textural Class
1. Laboratory Method (Hydrometer/Bouyoucus Method)
1.1. Weigh 50 g of air dried soil and place into a Bouyoucous dispersion cup. (Note: you may use bottle
with cover or E. flask with cover)
1.2. Add 100 ml of dispersing agent (Na-hexametaphosphate) and fill with distilled water to about 4 cm
from the lip of the dispersion cup.
1.3. Shake vigorously for 10 minutes.
1.4. Transfer all the content of the cup to a Bouyoucous sedimentation cylinder (1 liter graduated cylinder)
using wash bottle to dispense soil.
1.5. Add water until the 1000 ml mark of the cylinder is reached.
1.6. Mix the suspension well using the plunger by carefully moving it up and down about 20 times. At the
end of 20 seconds from the initial mixing, place the hydrometer and take hydrometer reading. When the hydrometer
floats steadily on the suspension. Record the reading.
1.7. Remove the hydrometer and put the thermometer in the soil suspension. Record the temperature
reading.
1.8. Place the cylinder in a secure place and without remixing the soil suspension. Take another hydrometer
and temperature readings after 2 hours.
1.9. Record and compute the different parameters to obtain the % sand, %silt and %
clay 1.10. Determine the soil texture by referring to soil textural triangle.

2. Calculations and identification of texture:

2.1. Correct the hydrometer reading using the correction factor (C.F.), where C.F. = 0.36 (T - 19.4°C). Then
C.F. value is added algebraically to the hydrometer reading to give the Corrected Hydrometer Reading (CHR). 2.2.
Compute % sand, silt and clay based on the CHR and the following formula;
•% clay = (CHR after 2 hours/ Weight of soil sample) × 100
•% silt = ((CHR at 40 sec. - CHR after 2 hours)/ Weight of soil sample) × 100
•% sand = 100 - (% silt + % clay)

B. Field Method. Oftentimes it is necessary to determine the soil texture quickly or in places where laboratory
determination is not feasible. The texture of the soil may also be determined directly in the field by the so called
"feel" and "roll" methods.
1. Feel Method
•Rub a few soils in between your moistened fingers (thumb and pointer).
Determine how it feels, then characterize the sensation by describing each of the soil separates through the
following descriptions:
oSand = feels gritty
oSilt = feels smooth, floury or powder
 oClay = is sticky and plastic when moist

2. Roll Method
1. Moisten about 10g (a teaspoonful) each of the soil samples on your palm. Thoroughly knead until
the moist soil can be shaped into a ball.
2. Roll well-kneaded soil between the palms or against a smooth surface until a soil-wire is formed.
3. The textural class is determined based on the following criteria;
oIf no roll forms: SAND, LOAMY SAND
oBeginning of a roll: SANDY LOAM
oThe roll is continuous, but breaks when a ring is formed: LOAM, SILT LOAM, SILT oThe
roll is continuous, but the ring cracks: CLAY LOAM, SANDYCLAY LOAM, SILTY CLAY LOAM
oThe roll is continuous and it could be molded into a ring without cracking or breaking:
SILTY CLAY, SANDY CLAY, CLAY

Source: https://soilsensor.com/articles/soil-textures/

SOIL TEXTURAL TRIANGLE

Laboratory Exercise No.4: Soil Structure, Density, and Pore Spaces
 Source: https://www.seekpng.com/ima/u2e6r5y3u2i1w7y3/

Objectives:
•familiarize on the different methods of determining densities and porosity of the soil;
•realize the importance of these physical properties of the soil to agriculture; and,
•identify the different soil structures and their characteristics.

Materials:
A. Soil Structure
•soil clod collected from the soil profile in Exercise 1
•soil samples from disturbed and undisturbed areas for aggregate stability test
B. Particle Density
•Clean, dry volumetric flask (100 ml)
•Air dried samples of the same soil used in bulk density determination
•Weighing balance, Distilled water
C. Bulk Density
•Soil clods at least 3 cm in diameter
•Cotton twine, melted paraffin
•Weighing balance set-up
•Distilled water contained in 250 ml beaker

Procedure:
A. Soil structure
• Characteristics of soil structures
o If the samples are large sized clods, slightly crush each sample with your hands so that it will
crumble into its aggregates.
 o Determine the type of the structure of each sample. Record all observations.
oStability of soil aggregates
oPlace 50 g each of aggregates of forest and cultivated soil samples in a wire screen container and
submerge in a basin of water.
oObserve the disintegration of the aggregates after a few minutes of submergence. Record
observations.
oAfter 5 minutes, lift and then submerge again the soils in water for 10 times. Compare the amount of
aggregates retained in the screen containers. Record your observations.

B. Particle Density: Pycnometer method

Weigh accurately a clean volumetric flask (Wvf)
•
Place 15 g of air-dry soil sample in the flask and get the total weight
•
(Wvf + s) of the flask and the soil.
•
Determine the moisture content of a duplicate soil sample by oven drying 105 °C for at least 24 hours or
• when
the weight becomes constant.
Fill the flask about one-half full distilled water. Shake gently and intermittently for about 10 minutes to
•
remove the entrapped air. Fill the mark with distilled water.
Clean and dry the outside of the flask and weigh (Wvf + s + w).
Compute the oven dry weight (ODW) based from the moisture content (MC) of the sample using the
•
following formula:
ODW = Air dry weight (ADW )/ (1 + % MC/100)
•
- Where: % MC= ((FW – ODW)/ODW) X 100
Compute the volume of the soil particles. This is equal to the volume of the volumetric flask (Vf) minus the
•
volume of water in the flask.
Compute the particle density.
•

C. Bulk Density:
•Core Method
1. Collect soil sample from the field using a core sampler and weigh.
2. Ovens dry the soil for 3 days to obtain its oven dry weight.
3. Analyze the bulk density of the soil sample using Core Method of analysis, where in the volume of the
core sampler used was computed by measuring the diameter and the height of the core sampler. 4. Divide
the total weight of the oven dried soil by the total volume of the soil including the air inside the soil mass
(g/cc).

•Paraffin Clod Method

1. Select undisturbed air-dried soil clods about 3 cm or less in diameter.
2. Smoothen the clods by trimming the surface with a sharp knife carefully so as to preserve the natural
structure.
3. Tie a piece of fine thread securely around the clod and weigh (Wc).
4. Dip the soil clod in melted paraffin making sure that water will not penetrate through. Several dips may
be needed. After cooling, weigh the paraffined clod (Wpc).
5. Weigh the paraffined clod in water (Ww).
6. Remove the paraffin layer and determine the moisture of the clod by crushing the clod or oven drying a
representative sample at 105 °C for at least 24 hours.
7. Determine the ODW of the soil using the formula in procedure 6 for determination of particle density.
8. Calculate the bulk volume of the clod using the following formula:
 Bulk Volume = Volume of Paraffin Clod (Vpc) - Volume of Paraffin (Vp)
•
Where: Volume of paraffin = (Wpc – Wc)/Density of paraffin
• •
Wpcw)/Density of water
Note:
Density of water = 1.0 g/cc
Volume of paraffin clod = (Wpc –
•

Density of paraffin = 0.9 g/cc

D. Porosity
1. Percent porosity is determined by subtracting the quotient of the bulk density and particle density by 1
then multiplied by 100.
% Porosity = 1- (Bulk density - Particle density) X 100

Laboratory Exercise No. 5: Soil Moisture

Objectives:
1. familiarize with the different methods of soil moisture determination;
2. observe four effects of texture and structure condition of the soil on water infiltration, percolation and
capillary movement; and
3. understand the importance of soil moisture content in relation to crops.

Materials:
• Oven with thermostat control
• Balance, moisture cans/aluminum foil
• Glass or clear plastic percolation tube (40 cm long and 5 cm inside diameter).
• Graduated cylinder, small beaker (100 ml), foot rule, large clamp and iron stand,
• Rubber band, cheese cloth.
• Soil samples (sand and clayey), humus

Procedure:
A. Determination of Soil Moisture Content
• Gravimetric Method
1. Obtain two clean dry moisture cans or aluminum foil, label them properly and determine their
respective weights. Place two tablespoons of the soil in each can and weigh it again. Then put
the container with the soil in an oven whose temperature is maintained at 105 - 110 °C for at
least 24 hours.
2. Remove the samples from the oven, cover and let them cool off. Weigh each container and their
contents again when cooled.
3. Calculate the moisture content of the soil as percent by weight for each can by using the following
formula:
Øw = ((X- Y)/Y)/X 100
•
Where: Ow = soil moisture content in percent by weight
• •
X = weight of the soil before oven drying
•
Y = constant weight of the soil after oven-drying
•
4. Find the average of the 2 moisture contents obtained.
B. Water Movement
• Downward Movement
1. Cover one end of 2 clean plastic/glass tubing with a piece of cheesecloth and tie with a rubber band.
2. Fill separately each tube with two soil textural class (clayey and sandy) to about 5 cm from the tip of
the tube.
3. Measure 100 ml of tap water. Pour the water over the soil in each tube and record the time it takes
for the water to percolate through the soil column.

• Capillary Movement
1. Cover one end of each of the two glass tubing with a piece of cheese cloth and secure it with rubber
band.
2. Fill one glass tubing with a sandy soil and other with clay loam soil.
3. Place them in a beaker of water in such a way that the surface of the water is about I cm from the
submerged ends of the glass tubing.
4. Observe the rise of water in each tube after 10 minutes and at the end of 2
hours.