Exercise 15

Soil Porosity
Introduction

Soil is a mixture of organic matter,

minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms
that together support life.
 SOIL POROSITY

Empty space found in soil.

 Factors Influencing Porosity of Soil
Sorting of Particles Packing of Particles

Well Sorted- High Porosity Loose Packing- High Porosity

Poorly Sorted – Low Porosity Tight Packing – Low Porosity
Objectives

To find out the rate of

drainage of water
through soil samples.

To compare the rate of

drainage through
different soil samples
Methodology

Different types of Time taken to

Soil Drain
Graduated
Cylinder
50 ml of Water Rate of Drainage

𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆
𝑨𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅
= 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉
GRASSLAND SOIL BACKYARD SOIL GARDEN SOIL
SANDY SOIL LOAMY SOIL FOREST SOIL CANAL SOIL
Figure 1. shows the video of pouring water into the funnel and Drainage Rate of Loamy soil (Left) and Sandy Soil (Right)
Results and Discussion
Table 1. Shows the Rate of Drainage and the time taken to for different Soil samples to drain.
Soil Samples Volume of Water Volume of Water Time taken to
Added to Soil in the cylinder drain through
Grassland Soil 50 ml 40 ml 10 mins/600secs
Backyard Soil 50 ml 39 ml 5 mins/300secs
Garden Soil 50 ml 43 ml 6 mins/360secs
Sandy Soil 50 ml 45 ml 5 mins/300secs
Loamy Soil 50 ml 38 ml 12 mins/720secs
Forest Soil 50 ml 42 ml 8 mins/480secs
Canal Soil 50 ml 45 ml 4 mins/240secs
 Soil Rate of Rate of Drainage
Samples Drainage 20.00%

Grassland 18.00%
6.67%
Soil 16.00%
Backyard 14.00%
13%
Soil 12.00%
Garden
11.95% 10.00%
Soil
8.00%
Sandy Soil 15%
6.00%
Loamy Soil 5.28% 4.00%

2.00%
Forest Soil 8.75%
0.00%
Canal Soil 18.75% Grassland Backyard Garden Sandy Soil Loamy Soil Forest Soil Canal Soil
Soil Soil Soil
Figure 2. Shows the Rate of Drainage of Soils obtained from different environments. Canal Soil having the highest rate
of drainage followed by Sandy soil.
Conclusion
Soil porosity concerns the oxygen found within these
pore spaces. Soil pores contain the groundwater that
many of us drink.
All plants need oxygen for respiration, so a well-aerated
soil is important for growing crops.

Loam soil is the ideal soil plant-growing medium because

of the following reasons:
i. The different-sized particles leave spaces in the soil for
air and water to flow and roots to penetrate.
ii. Porosity in the soil is balanced leading to better water-
holding capacity.