Computational Skills on Moisture Content and Porosity Determination

I. Introduction

II. Objectives
At the end of this activity, students should be able to:
1. Enhance familiarity and knowledge on the different terms and symbols
related to moisture content and porosity determination
2. Gain expertise on solving problems relative to moisture content and
porosity determination

III. Procedure
Solve all the given problems. Present all assumptions made and complete
calculations.
1) A sharp-edged cylinder 150 millimeters in diameter is carefully driven into the soil so
that negligible compaction occurs. A 200 millimeter column of soil is secured. The
wet weight is 5525 grams and the dry weight is 4950 grams.
a) What is the percent moisture on a dry weight basis?
b) What is the apparent specific gravity of the soil?

2) A cylinder was carefully pushed into the soil without compressing or disturbing the
soil. The cross-sectional area of the cylinder was 0.025 square meters. The length
of the column of soil within the cylinder was 0.30 meters. The weight of the soil
within the cylinder was 9.5 kilograms when it was dried. The weight of the soil
before drying was 11.4 kilograms. Determine Pw , A s , P v.

3) A stream of 115 liters per second is used to apply 130 hectare-millimeters of water
per hectare to a 3.5 hectare field. How long will it take?

4) An irrigator uses a stream of 100 liters per second for two days (48 hours) to irrigate
12 hectares of sugar beets. What is the average depth of water applied?

5) A farmer desires to irrigate a border which is 12 meters wide and 150 meters long.
He wants to apply an average of 75 millimeter depth of water to the area with a
stream of 60 liters per second. How long will it take him to irrigate this border?

6) The soil moisture at field capacity is 27.2 percent and the moisture content at the
time of irrigating is 19.0 percent. The apparent specific gravity is 1.3 and the depth
of soil to be wetted is 1 meter.
 a) How many hectare-millimeters per hectare of water must be applied?
b) How long will it take to irrigate the 5 hectares with a 115 liter per second with a
stream?

7) Soil sample indicate an average moisture and apparent specific gravity in the soil as
follows:

Depth Pv (dry weight) As

0 – 300 mm 14.7 1.34

300 – 600 mm 15.3 1.39
600 – 900 mm 17.6 1.32
900 – 1200 mm 18.2 1.30

Compute the depth of water held in the first 1.2 meters.

IV. References