ABSTRACT

The purpose of this laboratory exercise was to determine the unit weight,
moisture content, void ratio, and degree of saturation of soil. These physical properties
are indicators of the soils strength, compressibility, and compactability among others.

The sample used here in this exercise was an undisturbed chunk which has been
trimmed in cylindrical shape with a diameter of around 75 mm and a height of around 50
mm. As long as the soil sample fits perfectly into the cylindrical mold then its okay. The
soil sample used by this group was already done on Laboratory Exercise No. 4:
Preparation of Undisturbed Soil Samples for Test, it doesnt fit perfectly into the
cylindrical mold so the group trimmed it again to reduce its size. After trimming, the soil
sample was weighed and then it was oven-dried at temperature of 110 5C until the
mass or weight is constant.

Using the acquired data, the physical properties of the soil was computed and
the soil sample was found to have a moist unit weight of 19.65 kN/m, dry unit weight of
15.98 kN/m, moisture content of 23%, void ratio of 0.627, and a degree of saturation of
97%.
ANALYSIS OF DATA AND RESULTS

In this exercise, the physical properties of soil were determined using the

following formulas: = for the moist unit weight of the soil, = 1+

for the dry

(+)
unit weight, = for the moisture content of the soil, = for the void


ratio of the soil, and = for the degree of saturation.

By looking at the final data sheet, the moisture content of soil for groups 5, 6,
and 8 were 5.14%, 25.48%, and 23%. Group 5 has the lowest percentage among the
rest; this means that their soil sample was very dry compared to the others. Although
all of the soil samples were oven-dried, Group 5s sample dried out the most. The
calculated void ratios of each group are 1.484, 1.02, and 0.627. This time, group 8 has
the lowest value compared to the other groups. This is because their soil sample is not
loose, it was compacted even though they used an undisturbed chunk so the voids
available in their sample are small. The calculated degrees of saturation of each group
were 9.81%, 66.21%, and 97%. It can be noticed that Group 5 has the lowest degree
of saturation; this means that their soil sample was very dry. And Group 8 almost
reached a hundred percent of degree of saturation or in other words their soil sample is
almost fully saturated. Lastly, the moist and dry unit weight of each group is 18.41
and 17.51 for Group 5, 16.17 and 12.89 for Group 6, and 19.65 and 15.98 for Group 8.

Major sources of error in this exercise are the calculations, judgments in reading
the values, failure in compacting the soil, oven-drying the soil, and etc. Other sources of
error include the time in checking the weight of the oven-dried soil sample.
CONCLUSION

It can therefore be concluded that the values acquired in this exercise depends
on the soil sample used. The physical properties of an undisturbed soil may differ from
the physical properties of a compacted soil. It can also be concluded that the soil
sample used by Group 5 has almost no moisture in it, it is considered dry. And Group
8s soil sample has a lot of moisture in it, it is considered saturated.

This laboratory exercise will be considered a success because the students

successfully completed this exercise with no certain problems. This exercise taught the
students how to calculate the unit weight, moisture content, void ratio, and degree of
saturation of soil.