The Nature of Soil

Soil is neither liquid nor solid. It is a particulate system heavily influenced

by the minerals and water content within it.
Various phase relationships exist:

• Three Volume Relationships:

Vv
– porosity, n: n = V
– void ratio, e: e = VVvs
Vw
– degree of saturation, S: S = Vv

• One Weight relationship:

Ww
– water content, w: w = Ws

• Unit Weights:
Wt
– total unit weight, γt : γt = V
– solids unit weight, γs : γs = W s
Vs

• Specific Gravities:
γs
– specific gravity of solids, Gs : Gs = γ0

A useful way to characterize the density of a natural granular soil is with

emax −e
Relative Density, Dr = emax −emin
100