Aim: To determine the specific gravity of fine grained material.

Apparatus
1. Two density bottles of approximately 50ml capacity.
2. A vacuum desiccator of size about 200mm to 250mm diameter, containing a drying
agent.
3. A thermostatically controlled drying oven, capable of maintaining a temperature of
105°C to 110°C.
4. A balance, readable and accurate to one milligram.
5. A vacuum pump.
6. A wash bottle, containing distilled water.

Diagrams

50ml Density Balance

Bottle accurate to
0.001mg

Vacuum desiccator and vacuum

pump

Procedure
1. The 50g soil sample was ground to pass through a 2.36mm BS Sieve, a 10g to 15g
sub-sample was obtained and oven-dried at a temperature of 105oC.
2. The mass of the bottle was measured to the nearest milligram.
3. After being cooled in the desiccator, the sub-sample was directly transferred to the
density bottle and mass of the bottles and contents together with the stoppers were
measured to the nearest milligram.
4. The soil was covered with distilled water and vibrated to make sure the water and
sample were well mixed and as much air as possible was allowed to escape.
5. The bottle containing the material and liquid was placed in the vacuum desiccator
and pressure was reduced to 20mmHg, the bottle stayed in the desiccator until no
more air was released from the material.
6. The vacuum was released and the lid was removed from the desiccator.
7. Distilled water was added to the material until the bottle was full, the stopper was
inserted and mass of the bottle material and water was measured to the nearest
milligram.
8. The bottle was cleaned and completely filled with distilled water, the stopper was
inserted and mass of the bottle when full of water was measured to the nearest
milligram.
Calculations
The relative density was calculated from the following formula:
m 2−m 1
GS =
( m4−m1 ) −(m3−m2 )
Where, Gs = Specific gravity of the particles.
m1= mass of the density bottle (g).

m2= mass of density bottle and dry soil (g).

m 3= mass of density bottle, material and water (g).

m4 = mass of density bottle when fill of water (g).

Reporting of results

Bottle Number
163 190
Mass of the density bottle (g). 36.32 33.23
Mass of density bottle and dry soil (g). 47.49 44.65
Mass of density bottle, material and water (g). 92.41 90.98
Mass of density bottle when full of water (g). 85.51 83.92
Gs 2.62 2.62

Conclusion
The specific gravity of the sample is 2.62.

Recommendations
For better results the same experiment should be repeated for a number of times and the
average of the readings obtained and calculated to produce accurate results.

Precautions

a. The balance should be zeroed before taking any measurements.

b. Parallax error should be avoided.
c. Only distilled water should be used for this experiment.
d. Oven temperature should not exceed 110°C to prevent decomposition of soil.
e. The difference in mass of the soil sample used should be small.
f. Use oven mitts when handlings the hot container.
References
Engineeringcivil.com. (2009). Determine The Specific Gravity Of Soil. [online] Available at:
http://www.engineeringcivil.com/determine-the-specific-gravity-of-soil.html [Accessed 11 Oct.
2016].