Test: Water Content & Consistency of Soil - Civil Engineering (CE) MCQ

The pipette method is the standard sedimentation method used in laboratory for wet mechanical or sedimentation analysis.

Plasticity is the property of a soil which allows it to be deformed rapidly, without rupture, without elastic rebound and without volume change.

For organic soils like peat, a lower temperature of about 60° is preferable to prevent the oxidation of the organic matter.

The acetylene gas is produced by the reaction of moisture of soil and the calcium carbide. The gas exerts pressure on a sensitive diaphragm attached to a dial gauge which reads the water content.

In 1911, Atterberg who was a Swedish Agriculturist divided the entire range of liquid to solid state in to four stages.

The plasticity in soil is due to the presence of thin scale like particles which carry on to their surfaces, electro-magnetic charges.

According to Atterberg, the consistency limits are expressed as percent water content.

For complete drying, sandy soil takes about 4 hours and fat clays take about 14 to 16 hours. To assure complete drying of sample, it is kept for about 24 hours.

consistency index or relative consistency is defined as the ratio of liquid limit, minus the natural water content to the plasticity index of the soil.

Calcium carbide method is very quick as the result can be obtained in 5 – 10 minutes. The field kit contains the moisture tester, a small single – pan weighing balance, a bottle containing calcium carbide and a brush.