To Determine Organic Matter Of Soil

To Determine Specific Gravity Of Soil

OPEN ENDED LAB 1&2

PRESENTED BY
Danish Ashfaq (2018-cv-068)
Akash Raja (2018-cv-050)
Hammad Ahmed (2018-cv-48)
Daniyal Baloch (2018-cv-056)
Muhammad Omar (2018-cv-072)
SUBMITTED TO
MISS AFSHAN SIDDIQUI
 Organic Content Of Soil

The organic content is the ratio, of the mass of organic

matter in a given soil mass to the mass of the dry soil solids.
Soil organic matter is the fraction of the soil that consists of
plant or animal tissue in various stages of decomposition.
Soil organic matter encompasses all organic components of a
soil
 Fresh residues
 Decomposing organic matter
 Stable organic matter
 Living organisms.
The organic content is expressed as a percentage.
IMPORTANCE OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER

Organic matter influences many of the physical, chemical and

biological properties of soils.
Some of the properties influenced by organic matter include soil
structure, soil compressibility and shear strength.
It also affects the water holding capacity, and water and air
infiltration rates.
lowers soil temperatures in the summer and keeps the soil warmer in
winter.
Organic matter serves as a source of energy for the microbes and as a
reservoir of nutrients that are essential for plant growth and also
hormones, antibiotics.
 DETERMINING OF ORGANIC MATTER OF SOIL

The most common method used to estimate the amount of

organic matter present in a soil sample is ‘loss on
ignition’ method
In this method we measuring the weight lost by an oven-
dried (105°C) soil sample when it is heated to 400°C.
The difference in weight gives the quantity of organic
matter in the soil
For heating sample up to 400°c we use high temperature
furnace for e.g. muffle furnace and porcelain dish so that
it can distribute the heat through the elements evenly.
 MUFFLE FURNACE

A muffle furnace is a front-loading box type oven with

externally heated chamber the wall of which radiantly heat the
content of the chamber, so that material being heated has no
contact with the flame.
Muffle furnace are more often utilized in laboratories as a
compact mean of creating extremely high-temperature
atmosphere.
They are employed to test characteristic of material at
extremely high temperature.
A muffle furnace is also known as retort furnace
It’s temperature ranges to 1200°c
 FEATURES OF MUFFLE FURNACE

Faster in heating and cooling with Ceramic Fibre

Insulation only.
Integrated with Monitoring Recording Control System
Heating Element embedded on all four sides
Easy management & maintance
Light in weight, Compact in design and Space Saving.
Consumes Less Power
 Natural Air Draft on the rear side for temperature
uniformity.
Pull and Push Type Heating Chamber for replacement.
 APPLICATION OF MUFFLE FURNACE

Can be used in
Testing Laboratories.
Dental Laboratories.
Engineering Industries.
Engineering Colleges.
Ceramic Painting Artists.
 Gold Testing Centers.
Jeweler Industries.
 What is specific gravity of soil

 It is the mass of solids in the soil compared to the mass of water

at the same volume
 Ratio of unit weight of soil to unit weight of water at 4°c
Gs= ϒs/ϒw
 Ratio of density of soil to density of water at 4°c
Gs=ρs/ρw
 Specific gravity tends to fall between 2.65 and 2.80, with
coarser soils generally having lower specific gravities than
finer soil
 Why Specific gravity of soil can be determined?

Knowing the specific gravity of soil helps engineers to

understand
How porous the soil is?
How many voids soil contain?
How saturated the soil is with water?
The engineer predict weather the soil at a site will be
stable enough to support a structure and allow proper
drainage.
 How to perform specific gravity test

There are couple of ways to perform this test

The two most common involve
 A specific gravity bench
 A specific gravity flask
Specific gravity flask is also known as volumetric or
Le Chatelier flask.
 A SPECIFIC GRAVITY FLASK

• For determining specific gravity we need

Volumetric flask, Electric balance, Dry soil sample, Wash bottle
• First we find weight of Empty Flask W₁
• Then we find weight of flask fill with water W₄
• Then we find weight of flask with some amount of dry sand
W₂
• Then we find weight of flask with water and sand W ₃
• Specific gravity can by computed as
Gs=α(W₂-W)/[(W₄-W₁)-(W₃-W₂)]
 Precaution For Test

The soil sample to be tested for specific gravity must be

completely free from lumps. If present, they have to be
broken down into the original form
Two main reason for error in the calculation are weighing
inaccuracies and the presence of entrapped air.
Entrapped air have to completely eliminated before
testing the sample.
The weighing balance has to be checked before
conducting the test.
The soil sample taken for testing have to be completely
oven dried