Why is it important to determine the specific gravity of soil solids in the study of soil mechanics?

Why is it important to determine the specific gravity of soil solids in the study of soil mechanics?

Knowing the specific gravity of soils helps engineers understand how porous the soil is or how many voids it contains. It also indicates how saturated the soil is with water.

What is the importance of specific gravity of soil?

Importance of Specific Gravity of Soil Solids Specific gravity is a fundamental property of soils and other construction materials. This dimensionless unit is the ratio of material density to the density of water and is used to calculate soil density, void ratio, saturation, and other soil properties.

What is the specific gravity of soil solids?

The Specific Gravity of soils is usually between 2.65-2.80 with finer soils having higher values than coarser ones.

Which method is accurate in determining specific gravity of soil solids?

How to Determine Specific Gravity of Soils?

• Pycnometer Method: Pycnometer method is used to determine the specific gravity of coarse-grained soils. Apparatus:
• Density Bottle Method: The density bottle method is used for the determination of specific gravity of fine-grained soils.

How does specific gravity affect the behavior of soil?

Researchers found that different geotechnical properties of soils have different behavior on the structures. Higher the specific gravity, higher will be the load carrying capacity of soils. Density index is used for the compaction of coarse grained soils.

What is used for determination of specific gravity?

One method uses the hydrometer, an instrument that gives a specific gravity reading directly. A second method, called the bottle method, uses a specific-gravity bottle, i.e., a flask made to hold a known volume of liquid at a specified temperature (usually 20°C).

How does specific gravity change with temperature?

An increase of temperature decreases the density, thus the specific weight (hot water floats on cold water). Specific volume is the reciprocal of density. An increase of temperature decreases the density, thus increase the specific volume.

What is the difference between specific gravity and apparent specific gravity and true specific gravity?

For solids and liquids, the specific gravity is based upon water as the standard. The true specific gravity of a body is based on the volume of solid material, excluding all pores. The apparent specific gravity is based upon the volume of the solid material plus the volume of the sealed pores.

What is the importance of apparent specific gravity?

Specific Gravity is important for several reasons. Some deleterious particles are lighter than the good aggregates. Tracking specific gravity can sometimes indicate a change of material or possible contamination.

How is specific gravity of solids for fine grained soil found in laboratory?

Density bottle method. The specific gravity of solid particles can be determined in a laboratory using a density bottle fitted with a stopper having a hole. The density bottle of 50 ml capacity is generally used [IS: 2720 Part 2 1980].

What is the effect of temperature on specific gravity of soil?

Variation in temperature highly affects the value of specific gravity of soil. The kinetic energy of the molecules making up the soil will be higher at a higher temperature. Thus the molecules will occupy a larger volume. But the substance does not get larger.