LABORATORY TEST 01:

MOISTURE CONTENT DETERMINATION

CONDUCTED BY:
Rogelio Jun L. Catanio
Novie Cris L. Farrofo
Jay Mark S. Gicale
 MOISTURE CONTENT DETERMINATION
OBJECTIVES:
To determine the total moisture content of a soil sample (Embankment).
Moisture content is the amount of water on the surface of the aggregate or in the process.

 We calculate the moisture content to know the exact water cement (w/c) ratio.
 To measure the calculation of the mix design for the cement.
 The moisture content comes from two things first the water on the surface of the
aggregate and the second thing is the water inside the pores.
APPARATUS/INSTRUMENTS:
1. Container/s labelled as #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5
2. Pan/s
3. Balance, sensitive to 0.1g
4. Denatured Alcohol
5. Lighter
6. Spoon/Spatula
7. Sieve #16 – 1.18mm opening, or any sieve size from sieve #10 and below
PROCEDURE:
1. Weigh the empty container, and record as Wc.
2. Repeat the procedures for the remaining containers.
3. Take the representative sample of the soil, place it in the aluminum tray and cover it
immediately.
4. Sieve the sample using the sieve #16, with an opening of 1.18 mm; secure the sieved soil
sample by covering it immediately.
5. Transfer the needed representative sample of the soil (30 grams) for each container
using the spatula.
6. Weigh the container with soil sample. Make sure that the balance is set in zero grams,
to ensure that the test will obtain an exact moisture content of the soil. Weigh and
record as W1.
7. Repeat the procedure for the remaining container.
8. Open the containers then dry them up using the denatured alcohol. Pour an enough
amount of denatured alcohol then light it up with a match.
9. Stir the soil sample occasionally with a stirring rod to ensure that the entire soil sample
is drying up.
10. Leave the soil sample burning until it is completely dry.
 11. Let the soil sample cool to room temperature for at least 20 minutes. The temperature
affects the weight of the soil sample, so it is better to weigh the sample after being cool
for certain duration of time.
12. Weigh and record as W2.
DATA, GRAPHS AND COMPUTATION

Wet Soil Sample Dried Soil Sample

Sample Moisture
# Content
(MC)
Wc Wc + Soil Sample Wc + Soil Soil Sample (WD)
(25g) (WW ) Sample (WD)
1 28.0 28 + 41 = 69 64.0 64.0 - 28.0 = 36 13.88%
2 31.0 31 + 33.9 = 64.9 60.0 60.0 - 31.0 = 29 37.59%
3 31.8 31.8 + 37 = 68.8 63.1 63.1 - 31.8 = 31.3 18.21%
4 34.3 34.3 + 33.6 = 67.9 62.7 62.7 - 34.3 = 28.4 18.31%
5 28.2 28.1 + 36.4 = 64.5 58.7 58.7 – 28.2 = 30.5 19.34%
Average 21.47%

Formula:
DOCUMENTATION:
 SOURCE OF ERROR:
Inconsistent moisture content on
the five soil samples show discrepancies
in this laboratory experiment.
Distinguishing where the errors came from
is the purpose of this chapter. The
inconsistencies in the moisture content of
the soil samples came from two known
facts. The first one would be that the
whole soil sample was not mixed up thoroughly, this just means that the moisture
content of the whole sample was not evenly distributed throughout the sample. The
second one would be in the drying process of the soil samples. Due to unavailability of
an oven, the samples were dried using denatured alcohol. This process needs that the
soil sample be mixed continuously so that every particle of the soil is to dry up. With
rigorous effort using this process, we can't argue to the fact that there would still be little
amounts of the soil that would not be dried thoroughly.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Availability of instruments could affect the accuracy of getting the moisture contents of
different soil samples. Therefore, it is recommended to have an additional instruments
especially oven in conducting this kind of experiment to be able perform effectively and
to obtain accurate results for data gathering.
LABORATORY TEST 02:
DETERMINATION OF LIQUID LIMIT

CONDUCTED BY:
Rogelio Jun L. Catanio
Novie Cris L. Farrofo
Jay Mark S. Gicale

DETERMINATION OF LIQUID LIMIT

OBJECTIVES:
To acquire the lowest moisture content at which the soil will flow upon the application of a very
small shearing force.

 Plot the percent moisture as ordinate on an arithmetic scale against the number of
blows as abscissa on a logarithmic scale test.
  To calculate the percentage moisture to the nearest whole percent.
APPARATUS/INSTRUMENTS:
1. Sieve #40
2. Mixing Bowls
3. Containers (5)
4. Denatured Alcohol
5. Lighter
6. Balance, sensitive to 0.1g
7. Spoon/Spatula
PROCEDURE:
1. A sample weighing about 100 g shall be taken from thoroughly mixed material passing
the 0.425 mm sieve which has been obtained in accordance with standard procedures in
preparation in sample test. Mix the sample with 15 to 20 mL of distilled water. Mix it
thoroughly by alternately stirring and kneading with spatula. Further addition of water
shall be made 1 to 3 mL increments.
2. Place a portion of the paste in the brass cup of the liquid limit device, level off the
surface with spatula to a maximum depth of 10 mm and divide the soil part into two
segments by means of standard grooving tool.
3. Mount the brass cup to the carriage such that it can be raised and allowed to drop
sharply on the base through a height of 10 mm by rotating the crank at approximate
rate of two rotation per second until the closure of the groove about 13 mm from the
bottom. The closure should be by flow of the soil and not by slippage on the cup.
4. Take a slice of approximately the width of the spatula extending from edge to edge of
the soil cake at the right angle of the groove. Place the sample in a drying can for
moisture content determination.
5. Repeat steps (2) to (4) with different moisture contents of the soil in the range of 15 to
35 blows. A total of 4 determinations should be made.
6. Plot moisture content against log numbers of blows and draw the flow curve.

DATA, GRAPHS AND COMPUTATION:

Container # Weight of Wet Wet of Dry Moisture # of Blows

Soil (g) Soil (g) Content (%)
1 25.1 19 32.11% 18
2 25.8 19.9 29.65% 27
3 25.6 20.5 24.88% 24
4 25.7 22.3 15.25% 23
 5 24.3 15.7 54.78% 27

DOCUMENTATIONS:
SOURCE OF ERROR:
The number of blows per soil sample was not measured exactly due to the manual
liquid limit device malfunction and due to the fact that it is manual, the force per blow is
inconsistent. Another source of error for this laboratory experiment is the process of
drying using denatured alcohol, through this process the soil sample is not dried evenly
or thoroughly.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is recommended to have a compatible equipment used in getting the number of blows
to determine the liquid limit of each soil samples. It is recommended also to use oven
instead of denatured alcohol for drying process for us to be able to acquire an accurate
result.
LABORATORY TEST 03:
DETERMINATION OF PLASTIC LIMIT AND
PLASTICITY INDEX

CONDUCTED BY:
Rogelio Jun L. Catanio
Novie Cris L. Farrofo
Jay Mark S. Gicale
 DETERMINATION OF PLASTIC LIMIT AND PLASTICITY INDEX
OBJECTIVES:

 To determine plastic limit which is the minimum moisture content at which the soil can
be readily molded without breaking or crumbling.
 To determine the plasticity index of the soil, that is the soils distinctive degree of
compressibility.
APPARATUS/INSTRUMENTS:
1. Sieve #40
2. Mixing Bowls
3. Containers
4. Denatured Alcohol
5. Lighter
6. Balance, sensitive to 0.1g
7. Spoon/Spatula
8. Glass Plate
PROCEDURE:
1. Squeeze and form 8g sample into ball.
2. Roll the ball of soil between the fingers and the glass plate with just sufficient pressure
into thread of uniform diameter throughout its length.
3. When the diameter of the thread becomes 3.2 mm, break the thread into 6 or 8 pieces.
4. Squeeze the pieces together the thumbs and fingers into a uniform mass and reroll.
Continue the alternate rolling to a thread of 3.2 mm until the thread crumbles and the
soil can no longer be rolled into a thread.
5. Take some of the crumbled soil and place in drying can. Weigh the container and thread
and record the mass. Combust the container with alcohol for about 10-20 minutes or
until moisture (darkish parts of the soil) is gone. Record the loss in mass as the mass of
water.
DATA, GRAPHS AND COMPUTATION:
Data Gathered

Container # Weight of Weight of Wet Weight of Dry Plastic Limit

Container (g) Sample w/ Sample w/ (%)
container (g) container (g)
1 81.0 88.9 87.1 2.07%
2 79.3 87.2 84.9 2.71%
3 85.3 93.6 91.2 2.63%
4 82.2 90.3 87.3 3.44%
5 83.1 91.1 88.8 2.59%
 Average: 2.69%

DOCUMENTATIONS:

SOURCE OF ERROR:
The source of error for this experiment is observed during the rolling of the soil samples.
One of the errors would be from the inconsistent rolling pressure and the other would be
the uneven rolling pressure distribution which caused the soil samples to have cracks at
some parts of the rolled soil sample. This inconsistency would not give the right
plasticity index. Rolling the soil sample to the same surface would be another source of
error. Due to the sticky nature of the soil sample some particles of it were left on the
surface which may stick to the next soil sample. Another source of error for this
experiment would be from the inconsistent drying of the soil sample using denatured
alcohol.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Therefore, in order to obtain an accurate result on the determination of plastic limit it is
recommended to perform the “trial and error” method because the more the samples
taken the higher the probability that we are getting near to the desired results.
LABORATORY TEST 04:
SIEVE ANALYSIS

CONDUCTED BY:
Rogelio Jun L. Catanio
Novie Cris L. Farrofo
Jay Mark S. Gicale
 SIEVE ANALYSIS
OBJECTIVES:
Sieve analysis is the act of assessing the particle size distribution of a granular material
by allowing the material to pass through a series of sieves of progressive smaller mesh size and
weighing the amount of material that is stopped by each sieve opening as a fraction of the
whole mass.

 To determine the group classification of the soil according to USDA, AASHO, and USCS.
 To determine the fineness modulus or the grained soil.
 To determine the percentages of particle sites (gravel, sand, silt, and clay).
APPARATUS/INSTRUMENTS
1. Sieve Pans (Sieve number 3, 2, 11/2, 1, ¾, ½, 3/8, 4, 8, 10, 16, 30, 40, 50, 60, 100, 200)
2. Pans
3. Denatured Alcohol
4. Lighter
5. Balance Sensitive to 0.1g
PROCEDURE:
1. Prepare the sieve pan, weigh them and record as W. Also, weigh the aluminum tray in
which the soil sample will be put into.
2. Weigh the soil sample and record as weight of wet soil. Put it together with aluminum
tray.
Note: The soil sample must be dry with an approximate zero percent of water solution
in all particles. Also, exclude the weight of the aluminum tray in the weight taken for the
soil.
3. Attach all the sieve material with corresponding proper order of the sieve number. Put
the soil sample simultaneously at the top of the sieve number 3 then attach the cap.
4. Shake the sieve material together with the soil particles for 15 minutes. The shaking
helps the soil particle to pass through every diameter of the sieves.
5. After the corresponding time, remove each sieve then weigh with its corresponding soil
for percent finer. Record the result in the table as shown below. Plot the calculated
values on a semi-logarithmic graph.

DATA, GRAPHS AND COMPUTATION

Table 1. Percent finer according to the gathered data.

Weight Governing
 Sieve Weight Retained Weight Cumulative Spec’s
Size of Sieve w/ Retained Weight % % Mass %
(in) Container Passing Passing Retained Passing
3 724 724 0
2 512.8 512.8 0
1½ 533.5 533.5 0
1 527.3 583.2 55.9
¾ 823.1 978.3 155.2
½ 521.6 679.2 157.6
3/8 520 656.8 136.8
4 771.1 975.7 186.6
8 691.9 943.5 251.6
10 460.5 528 67.5
16 401.2 630.6 229.4
30 602.7 945.9 343.2
40 585.6 834.4 248.8
50 350.7 645.2 294.5
60 338.8 491.2 152.4
100 321.7 1023.9 702.2
200 857.7 1040.4 182.7
Pan 430.7 725 294.3
Wash 147.5
Out 200
TOTAL 3606.2

DOCUMENTATIONS:
SOURCE OF ERROR:
Manual sieving of the soil sample can be erroneous. Despite the best efforts to do so,
some of the soil sample are not sieved thoroughly because of the soil sample clumping
up. Due to the fact that this experiment was done manually, some dust particles
escaped through the gaps in sieves which greatly affects the total weight of the soil
sample.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
In general, it is recommended to clean up all the sieves before using as it greatly affects
our experiment.
LABORATORY TEST 05:
SOIL COMPACTION

CONDUCTED BY:
Rogelio Jun L. Catanio
Novie Cris L. Farrofo
Jay Mark S. Gicale
 SOIL COMPACTION
OBJECTIVES:
 To determine the particle size (gravel, sand, silt & clay).
 To determine the group of classification using USDA, AASHTO, and USCS.
 To determine the fineness modulus of grained soil.
APPARARUS/INSTRUMENTS:
1. Sieve #10- 4.75 mm opening
2. Bowls
3. Containers labeled as # (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. Denatured alcohol
5. Lighter
6. Weighing scale
7. Rammer
8. Balance scale
9. Stirring rod
PROCEDURE:
1. Thoroughly mix the selected sample with sufficient water to dampen it to
approximately 4 percentage points below optimum moisture content.
2. Form a specimen by compacting the prepared soil in the mold (with collar
attached) in 3 equal layers to give a total compacted depth of about 5 in. (127
mm). Compact each layer by 25 uniformly distributed blows from the rammer
dropping free from a height of 12 in. (305 mm) above the elevation of the soil
when a sleeve type rammer is used. During compaction, the mold shall rest firmly
on a dense, uniform, rigid and stable foundation.
2.1 Following compaction, remove the extension collar, carefully trim the
compacted soil even with the top of the mold by means of the spatula. Holes
developed in the surface by removal of coarse material shall be patched with
smaller size material. Weigh the mold and moist soil in pounds or in
kilograms and divide the mass of the compacted specimen, mold minus the
mass of the mold by 0.000943 and record the results as wet density W1 in
kg/m3.
3. Remove the material from the mold and slice vertically through the center. Take
a representative sample of the material from one of the cut faces, weigh
immediately, and dry using denatured alcohol to determine the moisture content.
The moisture content sample shall weigh not less than 500 g.
4. Thoroughly break up the remainder of the material until it will pass a 19.0 mm
sieve and add to the remaining portion of the sample being tested. Add water in
sufficient amounts to increase the moisture content of the soil sample by 1 or 2
percentage points, and repeat the above procedure for each increment of water
added. Continue this series of determinations until there is a decrease or no
 change in the wet water mass, W1 per cubic foot or cubic meter of compacted
soil.

DATA, GRAPHS AND COMPUTATION:

DOCUMENTATIONS:
SOURCE OF ERROR:
The slight error of this laboratory experiment would come from the compaction
process. The compacting force was not evenly applied throughout the soil sample.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
As for this kind of activity it is recommended to follow the procedures
carefully, it is better to have a soil sample of 10 kg or more to avoid deficit.