Exercise No.

4 Specific Gravity Test Discussion:Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the weight in air of a given volume of a material to the weight in air of an equal volume of a standard material at a stated temperature. In soil mechanics, the specific gravity of solids, denoted by Gs, is usually referred to distilled water at 4 o C. It is used in connection with gravimetric-volumetric relationships in soils and variouslaboratory tests.Objective: To determine the specific gravity of soil sample.Apparatus:1. volumetric flask, at least 100 ml capacity 2. thermometer, readable or accurate to 0.1 o C 3. oven with temperature control 4. dessicator, distilled water, aluminum bowl Procedure:I. Calibration of Volumetric Flask:1. The flask shall be cleaned, dried, weighed and the mass recorded.2. Fill the flask with distilled water up to calibration mark at room temperature.3. The mass of flask and water, W a shall be determined and recorded. A thermometer shall be inserted in the water and its temperature, T 1 determined to the nearest whole degree.4. Step 3 shall be repeated thrice to have at least three sets of concurrent measurements within the temperature range of 28 to 40 o C.5. Draw the calibration curve by plotting temperature against weight in arithmetic scale.II. Determination of Specific Gravity Sample:a. The soil to be used in specific gravity test may contain its natural moisture or be oven dried. The mass of the test sample on an oven dry basis shall be at least 25 g.b. When the sample contains its natural moisture, the mass of the soil (Ws) on anoven-dry basis shall be determined at the end of the test by evaporating thewater in an oven maintained at 110 5 o C.c. When an oven-dried sample is to be used, the sample shall be dried for at least 12 h, or to constant mass, in an oven maintained at 110 5 o C, cooled to roomtemperature, weighed, transferred to flask.