Marie Ann Terese S.

Emano CENBSCE-4B
Group No. 1 October 10, 2017

ACTIVITY NO. 2
Moist Unit Weight Determination of Soil
 Introduction

Moist unit weight is soil with moisture in the structure and it is weight of soil per unit
volume. Unit weight test are performed on the soil to determine the undisturbed or in-place
soil properties for field quality-control purposes to determine whether an earth or rock fill has
been compacted to the desired or specified density or unit weight. Density of the soil is
essential because density may be used to evaluate the relative strength of the soil. For
design purposes, the tests are often conducted to provide information for calculating soil
loads or stresses within a soil mass or exerted by a soil mass. (ASTM, 2017) This test can
also be used to determine density of compacted soils used in the construction of structural
fills, highway embankments, or earth dams. The most important use of the in-place soil unit
weight test is in credentials of the field compaction. Permeability of soils depends upon its
density.

The terms density and unit weight are often used interchangeably. The density, ρ, is
defined as the ratio of its mass to its volume and unit weight is the weight per unit volume of
a material. Moist unit weight determination must be performed in order to achieve the
specification of the laboratory maximum dry unit weight after the soil has been compacted in
the field.

Objectives

The laboratory activity aims to determine the moist density and unit weight of soil
sample obtained from the site of proposed Human Ecology Integrated Laboratory building
near Mahogany Residence inside Central Mindanao University campus.
 Materials and Methods

Sample soils that were used in the activity were obtained from the proposed Human
Ecology Integrated Laboratory Building near Mahogany Residence inside Central Mindanao
University campus. The materials used during the activity were: core samplers, were used to
collect and store undisturbed soil sample taken. Bolo was used to take the core samplers
from the soil. Cling wrap was used to seal the soil samplers with the undisturbed soil inside.
Zip lock was used as container to preserve the soil sample. Extruder was used to push the
soil out of the core samplers. Ruler was used to measure the height and the radius of the
soil sample. Digital weighing scale was used to weigh the soil sample. And wire saw was
used to cut the soil sample.

A. Soil Sampling

Soil samples were obtained from the proposed Human Ecology Integrated
Laboratory near Mahogany Residence inside Central Mindanao University Campus (see
figure 1). The assigned area where the soil samples are to be collected was cleared to avoid
contamination of soil samples (see figure 2). After collecting the disturbed soil, a hole was
made. On the hole, core samplers were inserted and make sure that there were no disturbed
soils inside (see figure 3). The buried core samplers were taken. Core samplers were then
immediately wrapped with cling wrap and were put on the zip lock (see figure 4).

Figure 1. Assigned area

 Figure 2. Cleaning the area

Figure 3. Core samplers were Figure 4. Wrapped core samplers

inserted

B. Sample Preparations

Using the extruder the undisturbed soil samples were pushed out of the core
samplers (see figure 5). The disturbed soil of the extruded soil was cut using the wire saw.
The diameter, height, and the mass of the cleaned soil were determined using ruler and
digital weighing scale (see figure 6). Then the gathered data was recorded accordingly.

Figure 5. Extruding of soil Figure 6. Measuring the diameter

 C. Moist Unit Weight of Soil Determination

Given the data gathered, density and moist unit weight were determined using the formulas:

Density:

𝑀
ρ= 𝑉

Where:

ρ = Density

M= mass

V= Volume

Unit weight:

𝛾 = 𝜌𝑔

Where:

ρ = Density

g = acceleration due to gravity

𝑀
ρ= 𝑉

𝛱𝐷2 𝐿
V=
4

Where:

D= Diameter

L= length
 Results and Discussion

Data that had been collected were recorded as shown in table 1.

Samples Mass Length Diameter

(kg) (m) (m)
1 0.0984 0.033 0.048
2 0.1020 0.032 0.048
3 0.1360 0.044 0.048

Table 1. Gathered Data

Table 1 shows that sample 1 has a mass of 0 0984 kg, a length of 0.033 m and
diameter of 0.048 m. Sample 2 has a mass of 0.1020 kg, a length of 0.033 m, and diameter
0.048 m. Sample 3 has a mass of 0.1360 kg, a length of 0.044 m and diameter of 0.048 m.

Volume, Density and Moist Unit Weight was determined using the given formulas above.

Soil Sample Volume (m3) Density (kg/ m3) Moist Unit Weight
(kN/ m3)
1 5.97154 x 10-5 1647.816141 16.16508
2 5.79068 x 10-5 1761.451159 17.27984
3 7.96205 x 10-5 1708.102813 16.75649
Average 16.73380

Table 2. Computed Data

Table 2 shows that sample 1 has a volume of 5.97154 x 10-5 m3, a density of
1647.816141 kg/ m3, and moist unit weight of 16.16508 kN/ m3. Sample 2 has a volume of
5.79068 x 10-5 m3, a density of 1761.451159 kg/m3, and moist unit weight of 17.27984
kN/m3. Sample 3 has a volume of 7.96205 x 10-5 m3, a density of 1708.102813 kg/ m3, and
moist unit weight of 16.75649 kN/m3. The volume of sample 3 is bigger than sample 2,
sample 1 has bigger volume than sample 2 due to its differences in length and diameter. The
average moist unit weight is 16.73380 kN/m3.

Conclusion

Therefore, the soil that was collected at the proposed College of Human Ecology
laboratory building has an average unit weight of 16.73380 kN/m3 which is classified as soft
slightly organic clay.

References

ASTM D 2937-00: Standard Test for Density of Soil in Place by the DriveCylinder Method.
Retrieved from http://cemmlab.webhost.uic.edu/Experiment%203-Unit%20Weight.pdf

Unit Weight of Soil. (2017, January 28). Retrieved September 16, 2017, from Civil
Engineering: http://www.civilengineeringx.com/geotechnical-engineering/unitweight-of-soil/

Reedy, K (2016), Engineering Properties of Soils Based on Laboratory Testing.