Purpose of calculation:

In its natural condition a soil sample has a mass of 2290g and a volume of 1.15 x 10ˉ³m³. After
being completely dried in an oven the mass of the sample is 2035g. Determine the bulk density,
unit weight, water content, void ratio, porosity, degree of saturation and air content.
Calculation Reference
Craig Soil Mechanics. R.F. Craig

Calculation Validation
Check against a worked example in the reference above.

Calculation Units SI 2

Density of Water
ρw = 1000 kg/m³
Gravitational Acceleration
g= 9.81 m/s²
Specific Gravity
Gs = 2.68
Mass
M= 2.29 kg
Volume
V= 0.00115 m³
Dry Mass
MS = 2.035 kg

Bulk Density
= M
ρ = #ADDIN? kg/m³ ### [Eqn. 1]
V
Unit Weight
= Mg
γ = #ADDIN? N/m³ ### [Eqn. 2]
V
Water Content
w = #ADDIN? = M - MS
### [Eqn. 3]
MS
Void Ratio
e = #ADDIN? = Gs[1 + w] ρw
### - 1 [Eqn. 4]
ρ
Porosity
n = #ADDIN? = e
### [Eqn. 5]
1+e
Degree of Saturation
Sr = #ADDIN? = wGs
### [Eqn. 6]
e
Air Content
A = #ADDIN? = n(1 - Sr) [Eqn. 7]
###
Table of compatible units
Length Area Volume Time Mass Velocity Acceleration Force Unit Weight
Fundamental m m² m³ s kg m/s m/s² kg.m/s² N/m³
SI m m² m³ s kg m/s m/s² N N/m³
SI (mm) mm mm² mm³ s g mm/s mm/s² N N/mm³
US Unit (ft) ft ft² ft³ s slug ft/s ft/s² lbf lbf/ft³
US Unit (in) in in² in³ s lbf.s²/in in/s in/s² lbf lbf/in³
LDForce Work Energy Power Density Stress
kg/s² kg.m/s².m kg.m/s².m kg.m²/s³ kg/m³ kg/m.s²
N/m J J W kg/m³ N/m²
N/mm mJ mJ mW g/mm³ MPa
lbf.ft ft.lb ft.lb ft.lb/s slug/ft³ lbf/ft²
lbf.in in.lbf in.lbf in.lbf/s lbf.s²/in⁴ psi
x along length

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