NAME: RAVIN RAGBEER Lecturer: Mr. B.

Khan
Course: Science 146

Title: Measuring the different Soil Air Capacity

Aim: To verify that different soils have differentiated air capacity within their particles.
Variables: Manipulated – Soil and Water content
Responding – Mixture created from tapping the container, both before adding water and after.
Controlled – Containers of the same size, height and weight.

Materials/Apparatus: Pencil, Pen, Markers, Plastic bottle container (top cut off), Water, Soil, Meter
ruler.

Diagram showing the apparatus used:

Procedures/Methods:
 Materials were collected: Four types of Soil – Sand, Silt, Gravel and Clay.
Four (4) containers with top removed.
 The containers were marked and made into cylinders using the meter ruler.
 All four (4) containers were filled to the 50 ml mark with soil. Ratio of container to soil was 1:1
 The containers were taped gently, to diminish the available air space and observations were made.
 Water was added to the containers, 50 ml of water.
  The containers were then taped gently. However, tapping lasted for 30 seconds.
 Observations were also conducted at these intervals.

Result/Observation:
Composition of soil after gentle taps.
Volume of Air presented in the four (4) types of soil.

Total Amount of Soil added Initial Amount of Final Reading Volume of Air
to the amount after Water added to after tapping available in the
container: tapping the soil: different type of soils.
 Sand Soil – 50ml  47  50 ml  73  27 ml

 Silt Soil – 50ml  48  50 ml  86  14 ml

 Clay Soil – 50ml  50  50 ml  97  3 ml

 Gravel Soil – 50ml  49  50 ml  90  10 ml

Calculation: the total amount of soil + the total amount of water – the final reading after tapping = Volume of
Air presented in the soil.

Before adding the water:

After adding the 50 ml soils to the individual cylinders, they were taped gently. As a result of the gentle
tapping, the following were noted as the observation on the soil air capacity of the four (4) soil:
 Sand Soil – after tapping gently on the cylinder, with 50 ml of soil, it was observed that the 50 ml
reading drastically decreased to a 47 ml reading. The sand soil was completely settled after the few taps,
leaving a reduced air space.
 Silt Soil – similarly to Sand Soil, after tapping the 50 ml soil, it was observed that the 50 ml reading
dropped to a significant 48 ml reading. The silt was completed plummeted at the bottom after the few
taps, leaving a reduced air space.
 Clay Soil – after tapping gently on the cylinder, with 50 ml of soil, it was observed that the 50 ml
reading remained exactly the same. The clay was placed into the cylinder and remained in that
position, even after tapping at the side.
 Gravel Soil – after tapping gently on the cylinder, with 50 ml of soil, it was observed that the 50 ml
reading was decreased to a simple 49 ml reading. The gravel settled to the bottom after the gently taps,
leaving an insignificant reduced air space.
After putting in the water and tapping for 30 seconds:
After adding the 50 ml water to the individual cylinders, they were taped gently for 30 seconds. As a result of
the gentle tapping, the following were noted as the observation on the soil air capacity of the four (4) soil:
 Sand Soil – after tapping gently on the cylinder, with 50 ml of soil and 50 ml water, it was observed that
the 100 ml reading drastically decreased to a 73 ml reading. The sand soil was completely settled after
the 30 seconds tap, with bubbles gushing out.
 Silt Soil – similarly to Sand Soil, after tapping the 50 ml soil and 50 ml water, it was observed that the
100 ml reading dropped to a significant 86 ml reading. The silt was completed plummeted at the bottom
after the 30 seconds tapping on the side of the container, with fewer bubbles escaping to the water
surface.
 Clay Soil – after tapping gently on the cylinder, with 50 ml of soil and 50 ml water, it was observed that
the 100 ml reading insignificantly reduced to a 97 ml reading. The clay was placed into the cylinder and
remained in that position, even after the 30 seconds tapping at the side and within the presence of water
pressure. Unlike the other two soils (Silt and Sand), it was observed that little to no bubbles were seen
from adding the water content and even when tapping for the long 30 seconds.
 Gravel Soil – after tapping gently on the cylinder, with 50 ml of soil and water, it was observed that the
100 ml reading was decreased to a simple 90 ml reading. The gravel settled to the bottom after the
gently taps for 30 seconds, with few bubbles escaping to the water surface (in relation to sand soil).

Source of Error:
 Inconsistency in gathering the appropriate types of soil.
 Amount of water and soil added to each container varied.
 Parallax error from the number of taps each container/cylinder received

Conclusion:
Between the soil particles there are empty spaces which are occupied by air and water and are termed as pore
spaces. Pore spaces between the aggregates of soil particles are macro pores and those between the individual
particles of the aggregates are micro pores.

 It can be concluded that Sandy soils have a higher percentage of macro pores. Typically, sandy soils
never become water logged and allow water to percolate downward more rapidly than clay soils.
Typically, moisture content in sandy soils is relatively low when compared to clay soils. Most of the
water recede into the soil to fill the enormous amount of air spaces it contains. As a result, bubbles were
also evident after adding water to the soil, which highlights that air is present with the pores of the soil.

 Clay soils contain a higher percentage micro pores when compared to sandy soils. Clay soils are more
susceptible to water logging which can adversely affect root respiration and microbial activity. A proper
balance between the macro and micro pores can be maintain by timely aeration. Due to this tightly
packed layout, majority of the tapping and adding of water pressure did not affect clay soil. The tight
and compressed particles of clays created barriers to allow any infiltration of water into its pores to
produce any bubbles, in an effort to prove and test the air accessibility of the soil.
 Silt soil contains finer particles as compared to that of Sandy Soil. However, still have a high percentage
of micro pores. These pores all water to steep within and fill up. As a result from this, a significant
amount of water was diminished due to it filling up the available air space within the soil. Bubbles was
also prevalent after adding water content to prove that soil have air spaces.

 Gravel soil also demonstrated bubbles after adding the water content to the tapped soil materials. Gravel
being a combination of sand molecules and pebbles suggested that it will react in similar ways as
compared to Sand and Silt. Having the air spaces of sand and combined with pebbles, the water content
also significantly reduced from its normal. Concluding, after taping for 30 seconds, bubbles were being
produced continuously (highlighting the face that air is presented in the pores) and the level of the water
showed just how much air spaces were evident within the soil.