Physical Properties Of Soils

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The soil properties and parameters can be broadly classified as
1)Physical
2)Engineering
3)Index

Physical soil properties include specific gravity, density, particle size and distribution and water content.
The water content represented by w of a soil sample is defined as the weight of free water in the sample expressed as a percentage of its dry weight.

The degree of saturation S is defined as the ratio of the volume of free water to its total volume of voids V_v

n=V_v/V
where n is the Porosity defined as the ratio of void volume to the total volume V of soil.

We need to calculate the value of e which is the void ratio to calculate degree of saturation. Once we know the value of e we can find S
S=wG_s/e
where G_s – specific gravity of the soil particles and is usually in range of 2.67+ -0.05

The dry unit weight Y_d(pronounced as gamma) of a soil specimen with any degree of saturation is calculated using the following formula

Y_d=Y_wG_sS/(1+wG_s)

where w =unit weight of water having following values
Freshwater – 62.4 lb/ft³ or 1001 kg/m³
Seawater – 64.0 lb/ft³1026.7 kg/m³

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