Determintion of unit weight

Definition of Bulk Density or "B.D."

Soil weight is referred to as soil bulk density. Density is the mass of material
contained within a given volume. This is the idea that a given size of box may be
heavy or light, depending upon what kind of material it contains. If the box were
filled with wood, it would be light when compared to having it filled with lead. The
weight of water is the reference for density measurements: 1 gram of water=1 cubic
centimeter (cc), & 1 cc water=1 ml. & 1 cubic foot of water=62.4 lbs.
The bulk density of a soil is the mass of dry soil per unit of "bulk" (total volume of
soil or soil particles & pore space).

B.D. = mass of oven dry soil (grams) total volume of soil

(cm3)=grams / cc
The bulk density takes into account the total soil volume (the space occupied by the
solid particles plus the space occupied by the air of the pores or pore space). To
determine the mass of the soil--since air does not have any significant weight--we can
just weigh the oven dry soil on a balance. The volume of the soil can be determined
by pouring the soil into a graduated cylinder and measuring the volume that it
occupies.
The problem with this procedure is that structural aggregates
may be crushed or compacted once they are removed from the
soil and placed into the cylinder. A better procedure is one in
which the aggregates could be removed from the soil and
frozen exactly the way they
were in the soil. Plastic
fixatives enable us to do this.
A large aggregate has
is being fixed by

been removed from the soil and

dipping it into a saran solution.
This will make the clod
impervious to water.
The weight of our clump of soil
can be obtained by hanging it
on the balance or placing it on
the metal weighing tray.
The volume of the clod also needs to be
determined. This can be obtained by
weighing the sample again, only this time the
sample will be in water. The weight of the

sample now will be less, since the sample will be buoyed up by the amount of water it
is displacing.
Archimedes most famous theorem gives
the weight of a body immersed in a liquid,
called Archimedes' principal. If you want
to know more about the mathematician
who determined that this procedure would
work, go to Archimedes .
Thus, by subtracting the weight of the clod
in water from its weight in air, we obtain
the weight of the water displaced by the
clod, which equals the volume of water
displaced by the clod (because 1 cm of water=1 gm. of water) and is equal to the
volume of the soil clod.
Clod Method of BD Determination =Mass of Clod Volume of water displaced
Volume of water displaced=weight of water or the (gms clod in air) - (gms clod in
water)=(grams or volume of water displaced)
Cylinder method of BD Determination=Mass of oven dry soil (gms) total volume
of soil (cm)
Another method of determining bulk density is by using soil cores. These are obtained
with a probe that forces a cylinder into the soil. The soil can be removed from this
cylinder and cut into sections and placed in another cylinder for transportation back to
the laboratory. Care needs to be taken to avoid compacting the soil during and after
obtaining the core.
BD of soil (using core method)={(mass of soil + mass of core) (mass of core} (volume of
core)

volume of core=Pi (3.1416) r

h
r=radius of core ; h=the height of core.
For the cores in the lab, r=2.45cm ( of Diameter); h=5 cm
V=3.1416 2.45 5=94.3 cm3;
Bulk density is a fairly easy determination that will yield information about the soil
that will be significant for determining the soil's potential for plant growth or a
building foundation. Remember it is the oven dry mass/volume soil. or g/cc