CE-206 Soil Mechanics

Assignment 1 (Properties of Soil)

1.The following data are obtained from a pycnometer test on a soil sample:
Mass of moist soil =315.5 g
Mass of pycnometer full of water = 2770.6 g
Mass of pycnometer with soil and water = 2948.8
Find the water content of the soil, if G = 2.67

2. A fully saturated clay has a moisture content of 42.4% and specific mass gravity (or bulk density) of 1.78
g/cc. Determine from first principles the void ratio and specific gravity of the soil grains.

3. A sample of soil, extracted in its natural state using a sampling tube of volume 0.001m 3 was found to have
a mass of 1730 g, the degree of saturation being 61.6%. The oven dried mass of the soil was 1440 g.
Determine (i) the natural water content, (ii) specific gravity of soil solids, (iii) the void ratio, (iv) the bulk
density, (v) the saturated density, and (vi) the submerged density.

4. A natural clay soil has a field water content of 16.2% and a saturation percentage of 70.6%. Due to a
sudden rain, the saturation percentage increases to 91.2%. If the specific gravity of soil grains is 2.68, find
the moisture content and bulk unit weight of the soil in the latter case.

5.A clay sample with its natural moisture content weighs 33.56 g. To determine the volume of moist clay, the
sample is immersed in mercury, and the mass of mercury displaced by the sample is found to be 302.4 g The
sample weighs 20.62 g after oven drying and the specific gravity of soil solids is 2.69. Calculate (1) moisture
content, (ii) void ratio, and (ii)degree of saturation of the soil.

6.In a research project on synthetic soils, a soil with dry unit weight Yd is mixed with organic matter of unit
weight Yo to have varied organic content OC, and organic content is defined as the ratio of the dry organic
matter to the total dry weight of the sample. Derive an expression for the unit weight of the synthetic soil in
terms of Yd, Yo and OC.

7. As per the compaction specification, a highway fill has to be compacted to 95% of standard Proctor
compaction test density. A borrow area available near the project site has a dry density of 1.65 g/cc at 100%
compaction and natural void ratio of 0.61. The specific gravity of the soil solids is 2.65. Compute the volume
of borrow material needed to construct 5 m height and one km length of highway fill with side slopes of 1:
1.5 The top width of the fill is 8 m.

8. The undisturbed soil at a given borrow pit is found to have a water content of 16.8%, a void ratio of 0.62
and G of 2.70. The soil from this borrow pit is to be used to construct a rolled fill having a finished volume
of 48,000 cubic metres. The soil is excavated and dumped in trucks. In the construction process the trucks
dump their loads on the fill, and the material spread and broken up after which water is added until the water
content is 18.29% The soil and water are thoroughly mixed and compacted until the dry density is 1.85
Mg/m³.

(i) What would be the volume of soil taken from the borrow pit? (ii) How many truckloads of soils were
transferred if the capacity of each truck load is. 15 m³?

(iii) If the fill should become saturated at some time subsequent to construction and does not change in
volume appreciably, what will be its saturation moisture content? (iv) What will be the saturation moisture
content if the soil swells to increase its original volume by 15.8%?

9. A subgrade soil of G = 2.67 and dry density 1.53 Mg/m³ is available. With this soil an aggregate of the
same specific gravity in a proportion 75% of aggregate and 25% of soil is mixed. The mixture is then
compacted to a dry density of 1.84 Mg/m. At 100% saturation the aggregate has a moisture content of 3%.
What is the saturation moisture content for the soil in the compacted mixture?
10. Derive an expression for water content from first principles in terms of the unit weight of dry soil, the
unit weight of water, the degree of saturation, and the specific gravity of soil solids.

11. A soil sample has 80% of particles (by weight) finer than 10 mm, 38 % finer than 1 mm, 12% finer than
0.1 mm, 7.5% finer than 0.01 mm and 4% finer than 0.001 mm. Draw the grain-size curve and classify the
soil as per Indian soil classification system. Determine the percentage of total weight in each of the various
size ranges, the effective size, and uniformity coefficient for this soil.

12. In a sedimentation analysis 48 g of soil passing 75 μm is dispersed in 1000 ml of water In order to

estimate the percentage of particles less than 0.003 mm, how long after the commencement of sedimentation
is the hydrometer reading to be taken? The centre of the hydrometer is 165 mm below the surface of the
water. Specific gravity of soil grains is 2.72 and viscosity of water is 0.001 N-s/m².

13. For a particle of diameter 0.005 mm, how many hours are required to settle to a depth of 3 m from the
surface in a lake? Specific gravity of the particle is 2.70 and coefficient of viscosity 0:001 N-/m².

14. A liquid and a plastic limit determination on a soil gave the following results (Casagrande's apparatus
was used for liquid limit test).

Test No. Mass of cup (g) Mass of cup + wet Mass of cup + dry Number of blows
soil (g) soil (g)

Liquid limit test

1. 22.68 40.86 34.68 13

2 22.93 42.82 35.78 20
3 26.27 38.02 34.37 47

Plastic limit test

1. 25.34 32.17 31.01 -

2. 24.83 30.48 29.51 -

Determine the plasticity index and classify the soil as per the plasticity chart.

15. A soil has the following characteristics:

(i) Percentage of soil passing 75 μ sieve = 55%
(ii) Percentage of coarse-fraction passing 4.75 mm sieve = 60 %
(iii) Liquid limit = 68%
(iv) Plastic limit= 22%
Classify the soil according to Indian standards.

16. The shrinkage limit of a clay is 22%, its natural moisture content 34.7%, and its specific gravity 2.73.
Calculate the decrease to be expected in a unit volume of clay if the moisture content is reduced by
evaporation to 18.2%.

17. From a natural deposit of silty sand a sample was cut out by means of a sampling cylinder. The diameter
and length of the specimen were 100 mm and 60 mm respectively. The mass of the field sample was
decreased from 896 g to 842 g after drying. When the dried sample was rammed tightly into a graduated jar
its volume was 421 cm³ and when poured into the same jar, it was 622 cm³. Determine the relative density of
the soil, and the degree of saturation of the soil deposit if the specific gravity of soil solids is 2.65.

18. A soil has been dumped loosely from a scraper. It has a unit weight of 16 kN/m³, a water content of
10.5% and a specific gravity of solids of 2,68. Find the void ratio, porosity, density and unit weight of soil in
loose condition. To make the compaction process more workable, an optimum water content of 15% is
necessary. How much water should be added in litres/m³ of soil to raise the water content to the optimum?
The soil is compacted with the optimum water content until it is 95% saturated. Find the new void ratio,
porosity, dry density and dry unit weight.
19.In the construction of a levee, the compaction specification required 95% of Proctor maximum dry
density at a field moisture content within 2% of optimum moisture content. The maximum dry density and
optimum moisture content obtained in the laboratory from Proctor tests were 1.94 Mg/m² and 13.5%,
respectively. A field supervisor conducted the sand-cone test at two locations and obtained the results
presented below. The sand in the sand boule was found to have a density of 1.87 Mg/m³. Check whether the
specification was satisfied.
Location No. Mass of soil removed (g) Mass of sand used (g)
Wet Dry

1 4386 3846 3951

2 3738 3221 3239

20. Explain geological cycle and types of weathering.