URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

URDANETA CITY

Q180 – Soil Mechanics

NAME: COURSE & YEAR: DATE GIVEN:

INSTRUCTOR: DATE DUE:

Quiz No. 1 in Prelim:

SOIL PROPERTIES

Problem 1: A soil has a volume of 100 cm3 and mass of
190 grams. After oven drying for a certain period of
time, the mass is reduced by 30 grams. If the specific
gravity of grains is 2.68,
Determine the following:
a. Moisture Content
b. Porosity
c. Degree of Saturation
Problem 2: The in-situ density of an embankment
having a moisture content of 12% was determined with
the help of a cylindrical container. The empty mass of
the container was 1.286 kg and when its full of soil had
a mass of 3.195 kg, the volume of the container being
1000 cm3.
Determine the following:
a. Bulk density
b. Dry density
c. Degree of saturation of the embankment
d. If the embankment becomes fully saturated,
what would be its moisture content? Assume no
change in volume in soil on the saturation
process. Use Gs = 2.70.
e. If the embankment becomes fully saturated,
what would be its saturated unit weight?
Assume no change in volume in soil on the
saturation process. Use Gs = 2.70.
Determine the following:
a. Compute the saturated unit weight when it is
composed of pure iron oxide
b. Compute the saturated unit weight when the
soil composed of 40% quartz, 30% mica and
30% iron oxide.
Problem 5: The porosity of an in-situ soil sample in
an embankment is 34 percent. A soil sample from
the embankment was first filled loosely in a 1 m 3
container and was then damped on the edge to give
a maximum unit weight. The loose dry mass in the
container was 1.61 kg and the dense dry mass at
maximum compaction was found to be 1.98 kg.
Assume the specific gravity of soil solids, Gs = 2.67.
Determine the following:
a. Void ratio
b. Dry unit weight
c. Density index

Problem 3: A soil sample after having a weight of 27.66

kN with a volume of 1.5 m3, has a moisture content of
5%. Assume specific gravity of soil solids is 2.67 and the
void ratio to remain constant.
Calculate the following:
a. Amount of water to be added to a 1 cm3 of soil
to raise the moisture content to 15%?
b. What will be the degree of saturation after the
water has been added?

Problem 4: A soil sample having properties of:

Gs of Quartz = 2.66
Gs of Iron Oxide = 3.80
Gs of Mica = 3.00