DETERMINATION OF LIQUID

LIMIT OF THE GIVEN SAMPLE OF

SOIL
Theory :-
Liquid limit is the water content corresponding to the arbitrary limit between liquid and plastic states of
consistency of soil. It is defined as the minimum water content at which the soil is still in the liquid state. But
has a small shear strength against flowing which can be measured by available standard means. With
reference to standard liquid limit device it is defined as the water content at which a part of soil cut by
groove of standard dimension will close together for a distance of 12mm under an impact of 25 blows in the
device.
Apparatus used :-
(a) Liquid limit apparatus (Cassagrande’s apparatus) with grooving tools
(b) Flat glass plate
(c) Water bottle containing
distilled water
(d) Spatula
(e) Balance having 0.1gm
sensitively
(f) Container
(g) Drying oven
(h) 425 micron IS sieve
Procedure :-
1. A dried and pulverized
soil sample is sieved
through I.S. 425 micron
sieve. About 300 gm.
sample is taken on glass
plate and thoroughly
mixed with distilled water
using a spatula until the
mass become a thick
homogeneous paste.
2. A portion of the paste is
placed in the cup of
Cassagrande’s apparatus,
leveled off parallel to the
base up to a maximum depth of 12 mm and divided by drawing the grooving tool along symmetrical axis
of the cup holding the tool perpendicular to the cup at the point of contact.
3. By turning the level @ 2 revolutions per second the cup is lifted and dropped until the bottom of the
groove is closed for a distance of 12 mm. The no. of blows at which it occurred is recorded.
4. About 10 gm. of the soil is taken from the neighborhood of the contacted region for water content
determination.

Tanmoy Shee
 5. The sample is removed from the cup and some more distilled water is added to it and thoroughly mixed.
6. Steps 2 to 4 for few times till the above said no. of blows is below 25.
7. A graph of no. of blows against corresponding moisture content is plotted in the semi log graph paper to
obtain flow curve.
8. Liquid limit is determined from the flow curve as moisture content corresponding to 25 no. of blows.
Observation table :-
No. of blows
Container number
Weight of Container(gm)
Weight of Container(gm)+wet soil(gm)
Weight of Container(gm)+dry soil(gm)
Weight of water(gm)
Weight of dry soil(gm)
Water content

Result:-
From the graph the liquid limit of the soil sample is ………………………………..
Precaution:-
The following precaution should be taken during the experiment
1. Soil should not be oven dried prior to testing.
2. The groove should be closed by flow of the soil and not by slippage between the soil and the cup.
3. After mixing water to the soil sample sufficient time should be given to permeate the water throughout
the soil mass.
4. For each test cup and grooving tool should be cleaned.
Remarks:-
Value of liquid limit indicates shear strength, compressibility, permeability which are very important for
designing soil structures such as dam, embankments etc. An increase in liquid limit indicates the increases in
shear strength of soil.
Average value of liquid limit of cohesive soil is about 6%.
High value of liquid limit indicates that the soil contains a large percentage of clay and even particles of
colloidal signs. Therefore that soil posses a poor foundation/traffic local bearing capacity.
For fine grained soil,
 LL<35: Low compressibility
 LL= 35 to 50: Medium compressibility
 LL>50: High compressibility

Tanmoy Shee