The specific gravity of a given material is

defined as the ratio of the weight of a given volume of

the material to the weight of an equal volume of
distilled water. In soil mechanics, the specified gravity
of soil solids is an important parameter for calculation
of the weight-volume relationship. Thus specific
gravity, Gs, is defined as
Gs = unit weight (or density) of soil solids only
unit weight (or density) of water
EQUIPMENTS
 Volumetric flask (500 mL)
 Distilled water
 Evaporating dishes
 Spatula
 Drying oven
 Denatured alcohol
PROCEDURE:

 Clean the volumetric flask well and dry it.

 Carefully fill the flask with de-aired, distilled water up to 500
mL mark.
 Determine the mass of the flask and the water filled to the
500 mL mark (W1).
 Insert the thermometer into the flask and the water and
determine the temperature of the water T = T1 °C.
 Put approximately 100 grams of air dry soil into an
evaporating dish.
 Add distilled water to the volumetric flask containing the soil
to make it about two-thirds full.
 Remove the air from the soil-water mixture by gently boiling
the flask containing the soil-water mixture for about 15 to 20
minutes.
 Bring the temperature of the soil-water mixture in the
volumetric flask down to room temperature, i.e., T = T1 °C
(see step 4).
 Add de-aired, distilled water to the volumetric flask
until the bottom of the meniscus touches the 500 mL
mark. Also dry the outside of the flask and the inside
of the neck above the meniscus.
 Determine the combined mass of the bottle plus soil
plus water (W2).
 Pour the soil and water into an evaporating dish.
Make sure that no soil is left inside.
 Put the evaporating dish in an oven to dry to a
constant weight.
 Determine the mass of the dry soil in the evaporating
dish (W3).
Ww = (W1 + Ws) – W2
= (660 + 100) – 710.5
Ww = 49.5g

Gs = Ws/Ww = 100g/49.5g
Gs = 2.02

Gs(at 20°C) = Gs(at T1 °C) × A

= 2.02 × 0.9986
Gs(at 20°C) = 2.017
 The soils that are used in the experiment
have mass of 100g and it mixed with distilled water of
500mL. The flask with distilled water and soil are
boiled for about 30 minutes and then the temperature
of volumetric flask is bringing down to room
temperature after it is already boiled. The temperature
used is 26°C and A at this temperature is 0.9986.
 After the experiment have done, the
computation on the specific gravity of soil solid is
determined which is 2.02. The specific gravity at 20°C
is 2.017 and it is obtained by multiplying the specific
gravity at temperature 26°C, the 2.02, by the value of A
which the value of A at this temperature is 0.9986.
Since the specific gravity is less than 2, thus the type of
soil is an organic soil.