Chapter 2

Basic Definitions
and Simple Tests

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

☞ Introduction ☞ Specific gravity of solids (G)

☞ Volumetric relationships ☞ Mass specific gravity or apparent specific
☞ Weight relationships gravity (Gm )
☞ Volume-weight relationships ☞ Important relationships
☞ Simple tests

Introduction Va Air Wa = 0
This chapter discusses some of the basic definitions and Vv
simple tests used throughout the subject. Water
V Vw Ww W
• The phase diagram is a simple, diagrammatic representa-
tion of a real soil. Vs
Vs Solids
• The phase diagram is also known as block diagram. Ws
• A soil mass consists of solid particles, water and air,
which are segregated and placed separately, known as A three-phase system
three-phase system.
• A three-phase system becomes a two-phase system when
the soil is absolutely dry (solids + air) or when the soil is Volumetric Relationships
fully saturated (solids + water).
• In phase diagram, volumes are represented on the left In total, there are five volumetric relationships. These are
side, whereas weights are represented on the right side. as follows:
1. Void ratio (e): It is defined as the ratio of volume of
voids to volume of solids.

Vv
Water
n=
Vs

Solids Range: e > 0

• For some soils, it may have a value even greater than
unity.
Air
• The void ratio of coarse grained soils is, generally,
smaller than that of a fine-grained soil.
Constituents of soil

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2. Porosity (n): It is defined as the ratio of volume of Volume-weight Relationships

voids to the total volume.
The weight of soil per unit volume is known as unit weight
V or specific weight.
n= v
V 1. Bulk unit weight (g ): It is defined as the total weight
Range: 0 < n < 1
per unit total volume.
•• Also called ‘percentage voids’.
W
•• Both porosity and void ratio are the measure of the γ =
degree of denseness (or looseness) of soil. V

Relationship between n and e: •• It is also known as wet unit weight or total unit
weight.
e n
n= e= 2. Dry unit weight (gd): It is defined as the weight of
1+ e 1− n
   solids per unit total volume.
3. Degree of saturation (Sr): It is defined as the ratio of
Ws
volume of water to the volume of voids, in soil. γd =
V
Vw
Sr =
Vv 3. Saturated unit weight (gsat): It is the bulk weight
•• It is expressed as a percentage. when the soil is fully saturated.
Range: 0 ≤ S ≤ 100% Wsat
•• For dry soil, Vw = 0 ⇒ S = 0 γ sat =
V
•• For saturated soil, Vw = Vv ⇒ S = 100%
4. Percentage air voids (na): It is defined as the ratio of 4. Submerged unit weight (gsat or g ′): It is defined as
volume of air to total volume, of soil. submerged weight per unit of total volume.
Va
na = Wsub
V γ′=
V
Range: 0 ≤ na ≤ n γ ′ = γ sat − γ w
5. Air content (ac): It is defined as the ratio of volume
of air to the volume of voids, in soil. •• It is based on Archimedes’ Principle.
Va 5. Unit weight of soil solids (gs): It is defined as the
ac = ratio of weight of solids to the volume of solids.
Vv
Range: 0 ≤ ac ≤ 100%
Ws
γ′=
•• For dry soil, Va = Vv ⇒ ac = 100% Vs
•• For saturated soil, Va = 0 ⇒ ac = 0
Relationships between ac, na, n and s: NOTES
ac + S = 1 1. γs > γsat > γ > γd > γ ′
na = n ⋅ ac 2. For a given soil, γs is constant, whereas γd is not
constant.
Weight Relationships
1. Water content (w): It is defined as the ratio of weight
Specific Gravity of Solids (G)
of water to weight of solids. •• It is defined as the ratio of weight of a given volume of
solids to the weight of an equal volume of water at 4°C.
Ww
w= γs
Ws G=
γw
•• It is expressed as percentage.
•• Range: w ≥ 0 •• Unit weight of water at 4°C is 1 gm/cc, 1000 kg/m3, 9.81
•• For dry soil, w = 0. For saturated soil, w > 0. kN/m3.
•• The water content of some of fine-grained soil may •• Generally, ‘G’ for inorganic soil lies between 2.65–2.80.
be even greater than 100%. •• For organic soil, G lies between 1.22–1.40.

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Mass Specific Gravity or 3. Pycnometer method

4. Sand bath method
Apparent Specific Gravity (Gm)
5. Alcohol method
It is defined as a ratio of unit weight of soil to the unit weight
of water. 6. Calcium carbide method
γ 7. Radiation method
Gm =
γw
Oven Drying Method
•• When the soil is partially saturated: •• It is a standard, laboratory-based method.
(a) When the soil is dry: •• This method yields higher level of accuracy.
•• For inorganic soils, a temperature between 105–110°C is
γd maintained for 24 hours.
(Gm )dry =
γw •• For organic soils, a temperature of about 60°C is main-
tained, but for longer time.
(b) When the soil is fully saturated: •• If soil contains gypsum, a temperature of about 80°C is
maintained.
γ sat •• The water content of the soil sample is calculated from
(Gm )sat =
γw the following equation:

Ww W − W3
NOTE W = × 100 = 2 × 100
Ws W3 − W1
For a given soil, G is constant, whereas Gm is not
constant, and Gm is always less than G.
Where
W1 = Weight of container, with lid.
W2 = Weight of container, with lid and wet soil.
Important Relationships W3 = Weight of container, with lid and dry soil.
wG
1. e =
S Specific Gravity Determination
(G + es )γ w By using the following methods, specific gravity of solid
2. γ =
1+ e particles is determined in the laboratory.
(G + e ) γ w 1. Density bottle method
3. γ sat =
1+ e 2. Pycnometer method
Gγw 3. Measuring flask method
4. γd =
1+ e 4. Gas jar method
(G − 1) γ w 5. Shrinkage limit method
5. γ′=
1+ e

γd =
γ Pycnometer Method
6.
1+ w •• This method can be used for all types of soils.
(1 − na ) G γ w
7. γd =
1 + wG
γ
8. V1 = 1 + e1 = d2 Soil Soil
V2 1 + e2 γ d1
W1 W2 W3 W4

Simple Tests (W2 − W1 )

G=
Water Content Determination (W2 − W1 ) − (W3 − W4 )
The water content of soil can be determined by any of the fol-
lowing methods:
 W − W1   G − 1  
1. Oven-drying method W =  2   − 1 × 100
 W3 − W4   G  
2. Torsion balance method

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Where Solution
W1 = Weight of empty pycnometer. Give n
W2 = Weight of pycnometer + Dry soil. γ : 6 kN/m3, G = 2.67, w = 0.17
W3 = Weight of pycnometer, soil and water. γw = 9.81 kN/m3
W4 = Weight of pycnometer + Water.
(i) Dry unit weight (gd)
Determination of in Situ Density/ γ 6
γd = =
Field Density 1 + w 1 + 0.17

The following methods are used for determination of undis- γ d = 5.128 kN/m 3
turbed or field density. (ii) Porosity (n)
1. Core cutter method
Gγ w
2. Sand replacement method e= −1
γd
NOTE (2.67)(9.81)
= −1
Core cutter method is quite suitable for the fine-grained 5.128
soils, whereas sand replacement method is suitable for e = 4.10
any type of soil. e 4.10
n= =
1 + e 1 + 4.10
n
= 0.803
SOLVED EXAMPLE
n = 80.33%
Example 1 (iii) Void ratio
The total unit weight of the glacial outwash soil is 6 kN/ e = 4.10
m3. The specific gravity of the solid particles of the soil is (iv) Degree of saturation
2.67. The water content of the soil is 17%. Assume that unit wG
weight of water (γw) is 9.81 kN/m3. Calculate the following: e=
S
(i) Dry unit weight wG (0.17)(2.67)
(ii) Porosity S= =
e 4.10
(iii) Void ratio S = 0.1107

(iv) Degree of saturation [GATE, 1998] S = 11.07%

Exercises

1. If the porosity of a soil sample is 20%, the void ratio is 4. A borrow pit soil has a dry density of 17 kN/m3. How
(A) 0.20. (B) 0.80. many cubic meters of this soil will be required to con-
(C) 1.00. (D) 0.25. struct an embankment of 100 m3 volume with a dry
density of 16 kN/m3.
2. Principle involved in the relationship between sub-
(A) 94 m3
merged unit and saturated unit weight of a soil is
(B) 106 m3
based on
(C) 100 m3
(A) equilibrium of floating bodies.
(D) 90 m3
(B) archimedes principle.
(C) Stoke’s law. 5. The ratio of saturated unit weight to dry unit weight
(D) Darcy’s law. of a soil is 1.25. If the specific gravity of solids (Gs) is
2.65, the void ratio of the soil is
3. A soil sample has a void ratio of 0.5 and its porosity (A) 0.625
will be close to (B) 0.663
(A) 50% (B) 66% (C) 0.944
(C) 100% (D) 33% (D) 1.325

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6. The given figure indicate the weights of different (C) over saturation.
pycnometers: (D) under saturation.
11. A soil sample in its natural state has mass of 2.290 kg
and a volume of 1.15 × 10−3 m3. After being over dried,
the mass of the sample is 2.035 kg. Gs for soil is 2.68.
The void ratio of the natural soil is
(A) 0.40 (B) 0.45
(C) 0.35 (D) 0.53

+ Soil + Water
12. The void ratio and specific gravity of a soil are 0.65 and
Pycnometer

Pycnometer

Pycnometer

Pycnometer
2.72 respectively. The degree of saturation (in percent)
+ Dry soil

+ Water
corresponding to water content of 20% is
Empty

(A) 65.3 (B) 20.9

W1

W2

W3

W4

(C) 83.7 (D) 54.4
The specific gravity of the solids is given by
13. A saturated soil mass has a total density of 22 kN/m3
W2
(A) and a water content of 10%. The bulk density and dry
W4 − W2 density of this soil are
W1 − W2 (A) 12 kN/m3 and 20 kN/m3 respectively.
(B)
(W3 − W4 ) − (W3 − W4 ) (B) 22 kN/m3 and 20 kN/m3 respectively.
W2 (C) 19.8 kN/m3 and 19.8 kN/m3 respectively.
(C) (D) 23.2 kN/m3 and 19.8 kN/m3 respectively.
W3 − W4
W2 − W1
(D) Direction for questions 14 and 15:
(W2 − W1 ) − (W3 − W4 ) For constructing an embankment, the soil is transported
from a borrow area using a truck which can carry 6 m3 of
7. In a wet soil mass, air occupies one-sixth of its volume
soil at a time. The details are as follows:
and water occupies one-third of its volume. The void

ratio of the soil is
(A) 0.25 (B) 0.5 Borrow Truck Field
Property Area (Loose) Compacted
(C) 1.00 (D) 1.50
Bulk density (g/cc) 1.66 1.15 1.82
8. Consider the following statements in relation to the
Water content (%) 8 6 14
given table:
Volume (cc) Content Weight (g) 14. The quantity of soil to be excavated from the borrow
0.2 Air 0 pit, in m3 for a compacted earth fill of 100 m3 is
0.3 Water 0.3
(A) 104 Cum
(B) 146 Cum
0.5 Solids 1.0
(C) 98 Cum
I. Soil is partially saturated at degree of saturation (D) 87 Cum
= 60% 15. The number of truck loads of soil required to obtain
II. Void ratio = 40% 100 m3 of compacted earth fill is
III. Water content = 30% (A) 12
IV. Saturated unit weight = 1.5 g/cc (B) 56
Which of these statements is/are correct? (C) 25
(A) I, II and III (B) I, III and IV (D) 33
(C) II, III and IV (D) I, II and IV 16. A sheet of water of thickness 1 m is available to fill the
9. If a soil sample of weight 0.18 kg having a volume of voids of a cohesion less soil to a degree of saturation of
10−4 m3 and dry unit weight of 1600 kg/m3 is mixed 80%. The soil has a void ratio of 0.5. Find the thickness
with 0.02 kg of water then the water content in the sam- of soil layer required to accommodate this amount of
ple will be water.
(A) 30% (B) 25% 17. Soil has been compacted in an embankment of a bulk
(C) 20% (D) 15% density of 2.15 mg/m3 and a water content of 12%. The
10. A soil sample having a void ratio of 1.3, water content value of specific gravity of soil solids is 2.65. The water
of 50% and a specific gravity of 2.60, is in a state of table is well below the foundation level. Estimate the
(A) partial saturation. dry density, void ratio, degree of saturation and air con-
(B) full saturation. tent of the compacted soil.

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Direction for questions 18 and 19: (A) 49% (B) 51%

A soil has a bulk density of 2.05 g/cc and water content of (C) 39% (D) 31%
18%. (G = 2.67) 24. The water content of saturated soil and the specific
18. The void ratio of the soil is gravity were found to be 30% and 2.65 respectively.
(A) 0.54 Assuming the unit weight of water to be 10 kN/m3, sub-
(B) 0.85 merged unit weight (in kN/m2) and porosity of the soil
(C) 0.65 are ______.
(D) 0.85 (A) 19, 0.6 (B) 9, 0.45
(C) 9, 0.6 (D) 19, 0.78
19. The degree of saturation of the soil is
(A) 65.7% 25. Which one of the following correctly represents the dry
(B) 76.6% unit weight of a soil sample which has bulk unit weight
(C) 89.5% of γt at a moisture content of w%?
(D) 93.5%  w 
(A) γ t 1 + 
20. For determining the index properties of soil the sample  100 
should be
γ t (100 − w )
(A) disturbed (B)
(B) undisturbed 100
(C) intact w ⋅γt
(C)
(D) None of these 100
21. If w represents natural water content and wL, wp, ws  100 
represents liquid limit, plastic limit, shrinkage limit (D) γ t  
respectively; choose the incorrect pair from the  100 + w 
following: 26. A 600 cm3 volume of moist sand weighs 1050 g. Its dry
(A) Plasticity index (Ip) = wL − wp weight is 930 g and specific gravity of solids, G is 2.67.
(B) Shrinkage index (Is) = wp − ws Assuming density of water as 1 g/cm3, the void ratio is
______.
w − wp
(C) Liquidity index (IL) = (A) 0.72 (B) 0.64
wL − w p (C) 0.48 (D) 0.91
w − wL
(D) Consistency index (IC) = 27. For a given soil the following unit weight is constant
wL − w p (A) γ (B) γd
22. Sand bath method is used to determine ______. (C) γsat (D) γs
(A) specific gravity
(B) unit weight 28. A given cohesionless soil has emax = 0.85 and emin
(C) moisture content = 0.50. In the field, the soil is compacted to a mass den-
(D) particle size distribution sity of 1800 kg/m3 at a water content of 8%.
23. For a sand deposit having specific gravity 2.65 and Take mass density of water as 1000 kg/m3 and G as
moisture content 25%; what will be the relative den- 2.65. The relative density of the soil is ______.
sity in saturated condition if loose and compacted void (A) 55% (B) 60%
ratios are given as 0.92 and 0.41 respectively (C) 65% (D) 75%

Previous Years’ Questions

1. The water content of a saturated soil and the specific 1.800 kg, specific gravity G is 2.7 and unit weight of
gravity of soil solids were found to be 30% and 2.70 water is 10 kN/m3. The degree of saturation of the soil
respectively. Assuming the unit weight of water to be is [GATE, 2013]
10 kN/m3, the saturated unit weight (kN/m3), and the (A) 0.65 (B) 0.70
void ratio of the soil are  [GATE, 2007] (C) 0.54 (D) 0.61
(A) 19.4, 0.81 (B) 18.5, 0.30 3. A certain soil has the following properties:
(C) 19.4, 0.45 (D) 18.5, 0.45
Gs = 2.71, n = 40% and w = 20%. The degree of satu-
2. In its natural condition, a soil sample has a mass of ration of the soil (rounded off to the nearest percent)
1.980 kg and a volume of 0.001 m3. After being com- is ______. [GATE, 2014]
pletely dried in an oven, the mass of the sample is

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4. If the water content of a fully saturated soil mass is is 2.67. Assuming density of water as 1 gm/cm3, the
100%, the void ratio of the sample is [GATE, 2015] void ratio is ________. [GATE, 2015]
(A) less than specific gravity of soil. 6. The porosity (n) and the degree of saturation (S) of a
(B) equal to specific gravity of soil. soil sample are 0.7 and 40%, respectively. In a 100 m3
(C) greater than specific gravity of soil. volume of the soil, the volume (expressed in m3) of
(D) independent of specific gravity of soil. air is _________. [GATE, 2016]
5. A 588 cm3 volume of moist sand weighs 1010 gm. Its
dry weight is 918 gm and specific gravity of solids, G

Answer Keys

Exercises
1. D 2. B 3. D 4. A 5. B 6. D 7. C 8. B 9. B 10. B
11. D 12. C 13. B 14. A 15. C 16. 3.75 m 17. 16.3% 18. A 19. C 20. A
21. D 22. C 23. B 24. B 25. D 26. A 27. D 28. D

Previous Years’ Questions

1. C 2. C 3. 81.3% 4. B 5. 0.71 6. 42

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