FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

DETERMINATION OF SOILS’ SPECIFIC GRAVITY (Gs)

BY: MWANGI EDWIN MURIMI

BP12/00234/22

UNIT: CEEN 222

SOIL MECHANICS

SUBMITTED TO: Mr. PETER W.

SIGNATURE………….
FEB 2024
 DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF A SOIL EXPERIMENT

OBJECTIVE
To determine the specific gravity of a soil sample at 27°C.

THEORY
The Specific gravity of solid particles (G) is defined as the ratio of the mass of given volume of soils
to the mass of equal volume of distilled water at 4ْ C. Both weights are taken in air. G= ρs /ρw.
The mass density of water ρw at 4ْ C is 1 g/ml. The specific gravity of solids for most natural soils
falls in range of 2.65 to 2.80, the smaller values are of the coarse grained soils. The specific gravity
of the different particles in a soil mass may not be the same. Whereas, when the specific gravity of
the soil mass is indicated, it is the average value of all the solid particles present in the soil mass.

APPARATUS
i. 250ml Flat bottomed flask
ii. Thermometer
iii. Distilled water in a wash bottle
iv. Sand sample
v. Stirring wire
vi. Weighing scale

PROCEDURE
1. A clean flat bottomed flask was taken and weight taken using a weighing scale as W1
2. A representative sample was taken from a collected soil sample and about 5g was weighed.
3. The sample was then filled into the flask and its weight measured as W2
4. In the flat bottomed flask containing the 5g soil sample, water was added up to the 250ml mark.
Gently using a stirring rod, the soil and water mixture was stirred in order to remove any
entrapped air.
5. The water and soil mixture was then measured using a weighing scale and noted as W3
6. The flask was then emptied and well cleaned. Distilled water was then filled to the 250ml mark
and its weight noted as W4

RESULTS / CALCULATIONS

W1 → 217.4g
W2 → 267.3g
W3 → 736.8g
W4 → 714.7g

Room temperature → 24ºC ( ᵞ ºC) → Density 0.99732

24
 ᵞ
( ºC) → Density 0.99654
27

W 2−W 1 (ᵞ 24 ºC)
Specific gravity ( Gs)= ×
( W 2−W 1 )−(W 3−W 4 ) (ᵞ 27 ºC )
267.3−217.4 0.99732
Specific gravity (Gs)= ×
( 267.3−217.4 )−(736.8−714.7) 0.99654

Specific gravity ( Gs )=¿1.796

CONCLUSIONS & DISCUSSIONS

The specific gravity of soil is a measure of the density of soil particles relative to the density of
water. It is an important parameter in soil mechanics as it affects the weight volume relationship, the
porosity and degree of saturation of the soil.
In this experiment the specific gravity of soil was found to be 1.796 meaning the soil particles are
1.796 times denser than water. The value of the typical range of soils specific gravity is between 2.6
and 2.9 for most mineral soils. However organic soils and porous soils may have lower values while
soils with heavy minerals may have higher values.
A higher specific gravity implies a higher density and a lower porosity of the soil.

RECOMMENDATIONS
It was noted that in order to get more accurate results that will be closer to the theoretical values;
 A hot plate needs to be provided in order to ensure all the entrapped air is being eliminated
from the soil sample when mixing it with water.
 The soil sample used for this experiment needs to be the one from the oven after 24 hours’
test for the moisture content.

REFERENCES
I. Jones, J. (2018). Soil analysis handbook of reference methods. CRC press.
II. Pongsivasathit, S., Horpibulsuk, S., & Piyaphipat, S. (2019). Assessment of mechanical
properties of cement stabilized soils. Case Studies in Construction Materials, 11, e00301.
III. Pham, T. A., & Sutman, M. (2023). A Simplified Method for Bearing-Capacity Analysis of
Energy Piles Integrating Temperature-Dependent Model of Soil–Water Characteristic
Curve. Journal of Geotechnical and Geo Environmental Engineering, 149(9), 04023080.
IV. Piper, C. S. (2019). Soil and plant analysis. Scientific Publishers.
V. Kodikara, J. K., Barbour, S. L., & Fredlund, D. G. (2020). Desiccation cracking of soil layers.
In Unsaturated soils for Asia (pp. 693-698). CRC Press.