Chapter 3

Specic
Gravity

This chapter provides background and procedures to perform the specic SCOPE AND
gravity test using the water submersion method. Techniques are presented for S U M M A RY
both ne-grained soil and coarse-grained soil. It will be much easier to perform
the tests on coarse-grained soils for qualifying technicians and instructional
laboratories. Fine-grained soils take longer to test and require more care in
processing the material.

Specic gravity is typically determined on geo-materials ranging from peat to rock. The TYPICAL
test is also run on other materials, including glass, cement, and iron ore. M AT E R I A L S

Specic gravity is dened as the ratio of the mass of a given volume of soil particles BACKGROUND
to the mass of an equal volume of distilled water (at 4C). This is given numerically by
Equation 3.1:

Gs o  s (3.1)
4 w

Specic Gravity 39
Geotechnical Laboratory Measurements for Engineers J ohn T. Ge rma ine a nd Amy V. Ge rma ine
Copyright 2009 by J ohn Wile y & S ons , Inc.
 Where:
Gs o  specic gravity at 4C (dimensionless)
4
s  mass density of solids (g/cm3)
w  mass density of water (g/cm3)
The temperature of 4C is used as the scientic reference temperature because
it corresponds to the highest water density. In soil mechanics, 20C is typically used
as the reference temperature because this is the most common application tempera-
ture. For reference, the mass density of water changes by 0.2 percent between 4C and
20C, which is about equal to the precision of the test method. On the other hand, the
mass density variation of the particles over the same temperature range is insignicant.
Throughout the remainder of this text, Gs will be used with the understanding that it is
referenced to 20C. Specic gravity is required to compute the phase relationships in
almost all engineering tests in soil mechanics. The equations for phase relationships are
found in Chapter 2, Phase Relationships.
Specic gravity is not useful as a criterion for soil classication because the vari-
ation is rather small from mineral to mineral. Typical values of specic gravity are
provided for a variety of geo-materials later in this chapter. The table demonstrates
the relatively small range of values for several common soil materials. This small range
demands a high precision in the test method in order to make it worthwhile to perform
the test for a specic application.
Two methods are used to experimentally determine specic gravity. One is the
liquid submersion technique and the other is the gas pycnometer technique. The gas
pycnometer test method is designated ASTM D5550 Specic Gravity of Soil Solids
by Gas Pycnometer. ASTM standard test method ASTM D854 Specic Gravity of Soil
Solids by Water Pycnometer uses the submersion technique, which is the subject of this
chapter. The water submersion technique is applicable to measuring the specic grav-
ity of heavy (relative to water), nonreactive particles. The submersion method can be
used for particles with low specic gravity values or particles that react with water (e.g.,
gypsum) by replacing water with kerosene or other liquids. The mass density versus
temperature relationship for the replacement liquid may have to be determined experi-
mentally or found in other resources.
A key component of determining the specic gravity of a material with the submer-
sion method is to have a precisely controlled volume. Iodine asks and pycnometers
(Figure 3.1), among other volumetrics, are readily available for establishing a control-
led volume.
With proper experimental techniques, both volumetrics yield equivalent results, but
the iodine ask is preferred because it reduces the subjectivity when setting the control
volume.
The volumetric must be calibrated (with a matched plug for the iodine ask) to
account for the variations associated with temperature. In general, one must measure
the mass and temperature of the volumetric lled with water. While the calibration must
be done experimentally, the theoretical equation can be used to better understand the
important factors.
Equation 3.2 expresses the mass of the lled volumetric as a function of temperature:

M BWT  M B  VBTC {1  (T  TC ) g } ( wT aT ) (3.2)

Where:
M BWT  mass of the volumetric and water at temperature T (g)
MB  mass of volumetric (g)
VBTC  volume of volumetric at temperature TC (cm3)
T  temperature of the bottle during individual measurement (C)
TC  temperature of the bottle at calibration condition (C)

40 Geotechnical Laboratory Measurements for Engineers

 Figure 3.1 Iodine ask (left);
pycnometer (right).

427.7

427.6
MBWT (g)

427.5

427.4

427.3

427.2
Figure 3.2 Typical calibration
427.1 curve (mass of volumetric lled
16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 with water over a range of tem-
Temperature (C) peratures).

g  coefcient of cubical expansion of glass  0.100  10-4/C

wT  mass density of water at temperature T (g/cm3)
aT  mass density of air  0.0012 g/cm3
The mass density of water is obtained from standard tables. A table of these values
is provided in Appendix B as well as with the ask calibration data sheet.
When the mass of the volumetric and water are calculated and plotted over a range
of temperatures, a calibration curve will be developed. A hypothetical calibration curve
is presented as Figure 3.2.

Specic Gravity 41
 Generally, the experimental error in the mass measurement is larger than the changes
caused by the cubical expansion of glass and ignoring the displaced mass of air. In addition,
the manufacturers quoted volume of the volumetric is only approximate at 0.2 mL.
Therefore, it is best to obtain the volume of the volumetric by experimental meth-
ods, assuming the term (T  TC )g in Equation 3.2 reduces to zero and the mass den-
sity of air is zero. Based on these assumptions, the remaining terms in Equation 3.2 can
then be rearranged to Equation 3.3:
M BWT  M B
VBTC  (3.3)
wT

During the calibration, the mass of the volumetric lled with water and the
corresponding temperature is measured at least three times at a temperature or a range
of temperatures between 18 and 30C. Take care to ensure the temperature is uniform
throughout the control volume, use distilled, equilibrated water, and make sure the
volumetric is dry outside and within the neck.
In general, the following measurements are required to perform the submersion
technique on a soil: mass of the volumetric; mass of the volumetric and water by cali-
bration; mass of the volumetric, water, and soil (repeated three times); the temperature
at each measurement; and the mass of the dry soil.
Computations to determine the specic gravity at the test temperature (GST ) are
performed using Equation 3.4:
MS
GST  (3.4)
( M BWT
 M S )  M BW ST

Where:
M BW ST  mass of the volumetric, water and soil at temperature T, determined
experimentally (g)
Ms  mass of dry soil (g)
M BW ST and M BWT are at identical volumes and temperatures
A graphical representation of the denominator of this equation is provided as
Figure 3.3.
The measured specic gravity must then be corrected to 20C by accounting for the
change in water density and assuming the soil particle density remains constant. This is
performed using Equation 3.5:
w
Gs  GsT T (3.5)
w20

Other important considerations for the specic gravity test include:

Volume Pycnometer

W
W
Figure 3.3 Graphical
representation of volumes within  S  S  W
the specic gravity determina-
tion to obtain the displaced water Volume Volume
mass. Soil Soil

42 Geotechnical Laboratory Measurements for Engineers

 Working with differences in large masses presents a challenge in meeting the mass
measurement resolution required for this test. Subtraction of the large numbers
in the denominator to get the volume of the soil controls the resolution achiev-
able with the test method. For example, if the volumetric mass is 175.52 g, the
mass of the volumetric and water is 427.66 g, the mass of dry soil is 38.23 g, and
the mass of the bottle, water, and soil is 452.16 g, the maximum number of
signicant digits is four. If the mass of dry soil is reduced to less than 10 grams
or the resolution of the scale is reduced to 0.1 grams, the maximum number of
signicant digits achievable is three, which is insufcient for the test.
Temperature variations within the volumetric present the largest source of meas-
urement error. Ensure that the temperature of the volumetric has equilibrated
fully. Otherwise, the estimate of the density of the uid within the volumetric
(and thus the mass of the water lled volumetric) will be based erroneously on
the point of temperature measurement.
Calibration of the volumetric must be done very carefully as this value is incor-
porated into all calculations. An error in the calibration will bias the results but
will not be detected in the standard deviation of one set of measurements. The
calibration has to be performed only once for a volumetric and cap combination,
and that calibration can be used for subsequent measurements. The mass of the
empty volumetric and the accuracy of the thermometer are important sources of
bias error in the test. The same thermometer should be used for calibration and
testing.
Cleanliness of the neck of the volumetric is crucial. Small amounts of soil
retained on the glass can alter the measured mass of solids. However, more sig-
nicant is the change in seal geometry between the plug and the frosted glass,
which subsequently changes the volume of the volumetric to a degree substan-
tial enough that the precision estimates will not be met.
Cleanliness of the glass affects the angle of contact between the glass and water,
which changes the volume of water contained in the meniscus above the read-
ing interface. Care must be taken to obtain an accurate reading of the meniscus
if using a pycnometer instead of an iodine ask. Reading at the bottom of the
meniscus is standard protocol.
Water that is equilibrated at room conditions will provide acceptable results.
Dissolved air will not alter the test results. Soil must be deaired to remove air
trapped between particles and in crevices on the surface of particles. Clays are
more difcult to deair than coarse-grained soils.
Some soils are deposited within salt water environments, such as marine clays, or
contain evaporate products. The pore uid of such soils typically contains salts.
Salts will dissolve in the water during the specic gravity test, changing the water
density. When the water is evaporated by drying in order to determine the dry
mass of solids, the salt is left behind and interpreted as contributing to the mass
of solids. When performing a specic gravity test, the presence of salts will
lead to erroneously high interpreted values unless accounted for appropriately.
For example, a clay soil with a measured water content of approximately 40
percent and a pore uid salt concentration of typical sea water (35 g/L), the
error is on the same order as the precision estimates for within laboratory test-
ing presented in ASTM International Test Method D854 (0.007). Correction of
test data to account for the presence of salt in some index tests is presented in
Appendix C.
Drying causes interstitial layers of some clay minerals to collapse. Upon reintro-
duction of water, the clay particles will not rehydrate to the same size and a dif-
ferent value of specic gravity will result. Therefore, do not dry clay soil prior
to determining the specic gravity. As Figure 3.4 indicates, the specic gravity
can change dramatically with drying temperature for some soils. When in doubt
about whether a soil is affected by drying, use wet soil for the experiment.

Specic Gravity 43
 3.0

2.5

Gs
2.0

Ottawa Sand
Diatomaceous Earth
Boston Blue Clay
Mexico City Clay
Figure 3.4 Specic gravity Leda Clay
versus drying temperature for 1.5
ve soils (Adapted from 0 50 100 150 200
Lambe, 1949). Drying Temperature (C)

Table 3.1 Typical values of Soils in general* 2.65 to 2.85 K-Feldspars** 2.54 to 2.57
specic gravity Average for clays 2.72 Montmorillonite*** 2.35 to 2.7
Average for sands 2.67 Illite*** 2.6 to 3.0
Organic clay ~2.0 Kaolinite*** 2.6 to 2.68
Peat**** 1.0 or less Biotite** 2.8 to 3.2
Quartz** 2.65 Haematite**** 5.2

*Lambe, 1951.
**Lambe and Whitman, 1969.
***Mitchell, 1993.
****Head, 1980.
Source unless indicated otherwise: Personal experience.

T Y P I C A L VA L U E S Typical values of specic gravity are listed in Table 3.1.

Equipment Requirements
1. One iodine ask (250 or 500 ml) for each soil to be tested
2. Digital thermometer (readable to 0.1C)
3. Cooler (picnic or other insulated enclosure)
4. Water bottle for removing excess water
5. Small water bottle to store thermometer in cooler between
readings
6. Scale readable to 0.01 g with a capacity of at least 500 g when
using 250 mL iodine asks and at least 1,000 g when using 500
mL asks
7. Equipment to deair volumetric: vacuum pump or water aspirator
with gage, hot plate, burner, or a combination of a vacuum source
and a heat source
8. Evaporation dish with twice the capacity of the volumetric

44 Geotechnical Laboratory Measurements for Engineers

Each volumetric must be calibrated to obtain the volume and empty mass. These C A L I B R AT I O N
data will be used to compute the mass of the water lled volumetric as a function of
temperature.
1. Determine mass of clean, dry volumetric with cap (MB).
2. Fill with equilibrated, distilled water to above calibration level and place the cap in
the resting position on top of the volumetric. The resting position for the cap has the
bottom surface completely submerged in the water, taking care that an air bubble is
not trapped under the end.
3. Place in cooler for at least 3 hours to temperature equilibrate.
4. Cap off, dry excess water, determine mass (M BWT ). While capping off the volumet-
ric, be sure the bottom of the cap remains under water to avoid trapping air. Insert
the cap into the hole and press rmly with a slight twisting action. The cap will lock
into a tight position.
5. Remove cap and measure temperature as quickly as practical. Remove the cap with
a twisting action to release connection with the volumetric.
6. Add water to above calibration level and place the cap in the resting position.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 at least two more times.
8. Obtain the volume of the volumetric for each measurement using Equation 3.3.
9. Compute the volume of the volumetric (VB) as the average of at least three
measurements.
10. An easy method to evaluate the quality of the data (and the testing procedure) is
to compute the standard deviation of the volume. The standard deviation should
be less than 0.04 cc. The technique should be adjusted and the process should be
repeated until this level of repeatability is achieved.

Use approximately 50 to 100 grams dry mass of soil for silty sands and up to 200 grams SPECIMEN
dry mass for gravel and coarse sands. Coarse-grained material can be oven dried before P R E PA R AT I O N
the test. This will accelerate the test and make it practical for a laboratory instruction
class. Use a smaller mass (30 to 40 grams) for clays because clays are difcult to deair.
Do not dry clay prior to determining its specic gravity but rather use Equation 3.6 to
determine the approximate wet mass for the test:

M t  M S 1  C (3.6)
100

Where:
Mt  wet mass of soil (g)
C  estimated water content of material (%)

The specic gravity analysis will be performed in general accordance with ASTM PROCEDURE
Standard Test Method D854.
For ne-grained soils:

1. Obtain the equivalent of 30 to 40 g of dry soil.

2. Mix soil in blender or hand shaker with about 80 g of distilled water.
3. Transfer slurry into volumetric. Do not ll more than half of the volumetric.
4. Use one of the following methods to deair the slurry: vacuum one hour, vacuum
and heat 10 minutes, or boil for 3 minutes.

Specic Gravity 45
Figure 3.5 Example of a mariet
tube setup using a sponge on
the end of a water introduction
tube attached to a Marriott type
bottle. This maintains a clear
interface between soil/water
slurry, and water containing no
soil particles.

For coarse-grained soils:

1. Obtain the equivalent of about 200 g of coarse soil, or if oven-dried, obtain the
mass (MS) to 0.01 g.
2. Transfer all the material into the volumetric.
3. Cover the material with distilled water.
4. Apply vacuum to volumetric for 3 minutes and agitate gently by hand to
remove air.

For either ne- or coarse-grained soils, continue as outlined below:

5. Fill volumetric with distilled equilibrated water to above calibration level. Do this
slowly when working with clay soils so there is clear water in the top of the volu-
metric. The use of a sponge (Figure 3.5) or other distribution device attached to the
end of the tube on a Marriott type bottle helps maintain a clear interface. Introduce
the water by gravity using a small total head.
6. Place volumetric with the plug in the resting position in cooler (Figure 3.6). The
minimum equilibration time required depends on the method used to deair the soil
and the type of soil tested. The practical limits of a typical instructional laboratory

46 Geotechnical Laboratory Measurements for Engineers

 Figure 3.6 Cooler containing
iodine asks equilibrating to
room temperature.

Figure 3.7 Stopper at an angle

in proper storage position.

time slot may dictate how long the specimens are equilibrated. Deairing methods
using heat will typically take longer to equilibrate, while those using vacuum only
can be equilibrated relatively quickly. Equilibration time can be reduced when test-
ing coarse-grained soils because the ratio of water to soil in the volumetric is less.
The lower bound on equilibration time is 20 minutes for coarse-grained soils using
vacuum only for deairing, and about 3 hours for ne-grained soils using heat. It is
often convenient for commercial laboratories to equilibrate overnight.
7. Transfer the volumetric to an insulated surface. At this time, the volumetric will
still be in the storage position with stopper unplugged and resting partially sub-
merged (Figure 3.7).

Specic Gravity 47
Figure 3.8 Using a squeeze
bottle to remove excess water
after the stopper has been
inserted.

Figure 3.9 Using a lint-free

paper towel to remove water
droplets from the neck.

8. Cap off volumetric, extract excess water with suction bottle (Figure 3.8), dry rim
with strips of paper towel (Figure 3.9), determine mass to 0.01 g (Figure 3.10). This
is M BW ST Do this quickly and handle the volumetric with gloves to prevent tem-
perature changes.
9. Remove cap and set aside temporarily. Use a digital thermometer to measure the
temperature (T ) in the volumetric to 0.1C (Figure 3.11). It is best to store the ther-
mometer in a small container of water in the cooler to maintain the thermometer at
about the same temperature as the water.

48 Geotechnical Laboratory Measurements for Engineers

Figure 3.10 Determining the
mass of the volumetric.

Figure 3.11 Determining the

temperature.
 10. Add water to above the calibration level and return the plug to the resting position.
11. Repeat steps 6 through 10 at least two more times using about 10 minutes for tem-
perature equilibration between measurements. For class it is informative (but not
necessary) to collect data for different temperatures.
12. After the three sets of measurements, obtain the dry mass of soil. Select an evapo-
rating dish and record the mass (Mc) and number. Do not use any metal objects to
scrape the soil from the inside of the volumetric. This will scratch the inside surface
of the glass. For coarse-grained soil, empty the volumetric into an evaporating dish
and rinse the volumetric clean with a squirt bottle. For ne-grained soil, pour off
some of the clear water. Cap the volumetric with a rubber stopper and shake vigor-
ously to break up the soil that sticks to the bottom. Pour the slurry into an evaporat-
ing dish. Add more water, agitate to loosen the particles, and pour into evaporating
dish. Repeat this exercise until all the particles are removed from the volumetric.
13. Oven-dry at 110C to constant mass and determine the dry mass of the dish and soil
(Msc) to 0.01 g.

Calculations 1. Compute the dry mass of soil used in the test using Equation 3.7:

M s  M sc  M c (3.7)

Where:
Ms  mass of the dry soil (g),
Msc  mass of the dry soil and dish (g)
Mc  mass of the empty dish (g)
2. Compute the specic gravity for each measurement at the measurement temperature
using Equation 3.8:
MS
GST 
{
( M B  VBTC WT  M S )  M BW ST } (3.8)

3. Correct each value of specic gravity to 20C using Equation 3.5.

4. Compute the average and standard deviation of the individual measurements to get
the nal result for the specic gravity.

Report Report the average value and standard deviation of the specic gravity at 20C to the
nearest 0.001.

PRECISION Criteria for judging the acceptability of test results obtained by this test method are
given as follows as based on the interlaboratory program conducted by the ASTM Ref-
erence Soils and Testing Program.
Within Laboratory Repeatability: Expect the standard deviation of your results
on the same soil to be on the order of 0.007.
Between Laboratory Reproducibility: Expect the standard deviation of your
results compared to others performing the test on the same soil type to be on the
order of 0.02.

50 Geotechnical Laboratory Measurements for Engineers

If the standard deviation for one set of measurements exceeds 0.005, then evaluate the DETECTING
techniques of the individual performing the test. The possible sources of problems are PROBLEMS WITH
insufcient temperature equilibration, poor cleaning technique, poor control when set- R E S U LT S
ting volume, or sloppy handling of the volumetric. If duplicate measurements exceed
the within laboratory repeatability provided above, sources of experimental error are
likely related to insufcient deairing, errors in the dry mass, or volumetric calibrations.
If the test results do not fall within the typical ranges or exceed the reproducibility limit,
the likely cause of error is systemic, such as an error in the mass of the volumetric, error
in the temperature measurement, or equipment out of calibration.
Several methods of isolating the causes of errors are possible. Systematic errors
due to equipment deciencies can be identied by performing the volumetric calibra-
tion over a range of temperatures. Procedural and technique errors are best identied
by performing the test on a coarse material with a known specic gravity (such as
glass beads).

ASTM D854 Specic Gravity of Soil Solids by Water Pycnometer. REFERENCE

PROCEDURES
Refer to this textbooks ancillary web site, www.wiley.com/college/germaine, for data REFERENCES
sheets, spreadsheets, and example data sets.
Head, K. H. 1980. Manual of Soil Laboratory Testing, Volume 1: Soil Classication
and Compaction Tests, Pentech Press, London.
Lambe, T. W. 1949. How Dry is a Dry Soil?, Proceedings of the Highway Research
Board.
Lambe, T. W. 1951. Soil Testing for Engineers, John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Lambe, T. W., and R. V. Whitman. 1969. Soil Mechanics, John Wiley and Sons,
New York.
Mitchell, J. K. 1993. Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, John Wiley and Sons,
New York.

Specic Gravity 51