CE0029

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1

LESSON 3
WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP
• Define void ratio, porosity, and degree of saturation
• Define moisture content, dry unit weight, moist unit weight, and saturated
unit weight
In natural occurrence, soils are three-phase
systems consisting of soil solids, water, and air.

The figure shows an element of soil of volume

V and weight W as it would exist in a natural
state.
To develop the weight-volume relationships, we
must separate the three phases (solid, water, and
air) as shown in the figure. Thus, the volume of a
given soil sample can be expressed as:

𝑉 = 𝑉𝑠 + 𝑉𝑣
= 𝑉𝑠 + 𝑉𝑤 + 𝑉𝑎

𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒:
𝑉𝑠 = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑉𝑣 = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑉𝑤 = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑉𝑎 = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
Assuming that the weight of the air is negligible, we
can give the total weight of the sample as

𝑊 = 𝑊𝑠 + 𝑊𝑤
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒:

𝑊𝑠 = 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠

𝑊𝑤 = 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
The volume relationships commonly used for the three phases in a soil
element are:

1 Void Ratio

2 Porosity

3 Degree of Saturation
Void ratio (e) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of
solids.

𝑉𝑣
𝑒=
𝑉𝑠
Porosity (n) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the total
volume.

𝑉𝑣
𝑛=
𝑉
The degree of saturation (s) is defined as the ratio of the volume of water to the
volume of voids.

𝑉𝑤
𝑆=
𝑉𝑣

This is commonly expressed as a percentage.

The relationship between void ratio and porosity can be derived as follows:
𝑉𝑣
𝑉𝑣 𝑉𝑣 𝑉 𝑛
𝑒 = = = =
𝑉𝑠 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑣 𝑉𝑣 1−𝑛
1− 𝑉

Modifying the equation, we’ll have

𝑒
𝑛=
1+𝑒
The common terms used for weight relationships are:

1 Moisture Content

2 Unit Weight
Moisture content (w) is also referred to as water content and is defined as the ratio
of the weight of water to the weight of solids in a given volume of soil.

𝑊𝑤
𝑤=
𝑊𝑠
Unit weight 𝛾 is the weight of soil per unit volume.

𝑊
𝛾=
𝑉
 Often, to solve earthwork problems, one must know the weight per unit volume of
soil, excluding water. This weight is referred to as the dry unit weight, 𝛾𝑑 .

𝑊𝑠
𝛾𝑑 =
𝑉

The dry unit weight can also be related to unit weight, and moisture content.

𝛾
𝛾𝑑 =
1+𝑤
 𝛾
𝛾𝑑 =
1+𝑤

𝑊 𝑊𝑠
𝑊𝑤 𝑊 − 𝑊𝑠 − 𝑉 𝛾 − 𝛾𝑑
𝑤= = = 𝑉 =
𝑊𝑠 𝑊𝑠 𝑊𝑠 𝛾𝑑
𝑉
𝛾 − 𝛾𝑑
𝑤=
𝛾𝑑
𝑤𝛾𝑑 = 𝛾 − 𝛾𝑑

𝑤𝛾𝑑 + 𝛾𝑑 = 𝛾

𝛾𝑑 𝑤 + 1 = 𝛾

𝛾
𝛾𝑑 =
1+𝑤
Instead of unit weight, sometimes it is more convenient to work with mass densities
𝜌 of soil.

𝑀 𝑀𝑠
𝜌= 𝜌𝑑 =
𝑉 𝑉
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒:
𝜌 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 𝜌𝑑 = 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3
𝑀 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 (𝑘𝑔) 𝑀𝑠 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 (𝑘𝑔)
𝑉 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 (𝑚3 ) 𝑉 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 (𝑚3 )
 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 𝛾𝑠 (1 + 𝑤)𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 (1 + 𝑤)𝛾𝑠
𝛾𝑑 = = 𝛾= =
1+𝑒 1+𝑒 1+𝑒 1+𝑒

𝑆𝑒 = 𝑤𝐺𝑠

Note: 𝐺𝑠 = 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑠

 𝛾𝑠
𝛾𝑑 =
1+𝑒

𝑊𝑠
𝑊𝑠 𝑊𝑠 𝑉𝑠
𝛾𝑑 = = =
𝑉 𝑉𝑣 + 𝑉𝑠 𝑉𝑣 + 1
𝑉𝑠

𝛾𝑠
𝛾𝑑 =
1+𝑒
If the soil sample is saturated – that is, the void spaces are completely filled with
water 𝑆 = 1 𝑜𝑟 100% , the following can be derived:

𝐺𝑠 + 𝑒 𝛾𝑤
𝛾𝑠𝑎𝑡 =
1+𝑒
The term relative density is commonly used to indicate the in situ denseness or
looseness of granular soil. It is defined as

𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒
𝐷𝑟 =
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒:
𝐷𝑟 = 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
𝑒 = 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒
𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒
The values of 𝐷𝑟 may vary from a minimum of 0% for very loose soil to a maximum
of 100% for very dense soils. Soils engineers qualitatively describe the granular soil
deposits according to their relative densities, as shown in the table.

Relative density (%) Description of soil deposit

0-15 Very loose
15-50 Loose
50-70 Medium
70-85 Dense
85-100 Very Dense
For a moist soil sample, the following are given:
• Total volume: 𝑉 = 1.2 𝑚3
• Total mass: 𝑀 = 2350 𝑘𝑔
• Moisture content: 𝑤 = 8.6%
• Specific gravity of soil solids: 𝐺𝑠 = 2.71

Determine the following:

a) Moist density
b) Dry density
c) Void ratio
d) Porosity
e) Degree of saturation
f) Volume of water in the soil sample
Solution: c) Void Ratio
𝐺𝑠 𝜌𝑤
𝜌𝑑 =
a) Moist density 1+𝑒
(2.71)(1000)
𝑀 2350 𝒌𝒈 1803.25 =
𝜌= = = 𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟖. 𝟑𝟑 𝟑 1+𝑒
𝑉 1.2 𝒎
𝑒 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟎

b) Dry density d) Porosity

𝜌 1958.33 𝒌𝒈 𝑒 0.50
𝜌𝑑 = = = 𝟏𝟖𝟎𝟑. 𝟐𝟓 𝟑 𝑛= = = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟑
1 + 𝑤 1 + 0.086 𝒎 1 + 𝑒 1 + 0.50
Solution: 𝑉𝑣 = 𝑛𝑉 = 0.33 1.2 = 0.40 𝑚3

𝑉𝑤 = 𝑆𝑉𝑣 = 0.4635 0.40 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟗 𝒎𝟑

e) Degree of saturation
𝑆𝑒 = 𝑤𝐺𝑠

𝑤𝐺𝑠 0.086(2.71)
𝑆= = = 0.4635 = 𝟒𝟔. 𝟑𝟓%
𝑒 0.50

f) Volume of water in the soil sample

𝑉𝑤
𝑆=
𝑉𝑣
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑉𝑣 :
𝑉𝑣
𝑛=
𝑉
In its natural state, a moist soil has a volume of 0.33 ft3 and weighs 39.93 lb. The
oven-dry weight of the soil is 34.54 lb. If 𝐺𝑠 = 2.67, calculate the moisture content,
moist unit weight, dry unit weight, void ratio, porosity, and degree of saturation.
Solution:

a) Moisture content b) Moist unit weight

𝑊𝑤 𝑊 39.93 𝒍𝒃
𝑤= 𝛾= = = 𝟏𝟐𝟏 𝟑
𝑊𝑠 𝑉 0.33 𝒇𝒕
𝑊𝑤 = 𝑊 − 𝑊𝑠 = 39.93 − 34.54
= 5.39 𝑙𝑏
5.39
𝑤= = 0.1561 = 𝟏𝟓. 𝟔𝟏%
34.54
Solution:
c) Dry unit weight e) Porosity
𝛾 121 𝒍𝒃 𝑒 0.59
𝛾𝑑 = = = 𝟏𝟎𝟒. 𝟔𝟕 𝟑 𝑛= = = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟕
1 + 𝑤 1 + 0.1561 𝒇𝒕 1 + 𝑒 1 + 0.59

f) Degree of saturation
d) Void ratio 𝑆𝑒 = 𝑤𝐺𝑠
𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤
𝛾𝑑 = 𝑤𝐺𝑠 (0.1561)(2.67)
1+𝑒 𝑆= =
𝑒 0.59
(2.67)(62.4) = 0.7041
104.67 =
1+𝑒
= 𝟕𝟎. 𝟒𝟏%
𝑒 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟗
The following data are given for a soil:

• Porosity: 𝑛 = 0.40
• Specific gravity of the soil solids: 𝐺𝑠 = 2.68
• Moisture content: 𝑤 = 12%

Determine the mass of water to be added to 10 m3 of soil for full saturation.

 Solution: 𝑊𝑠
𝛾𝑠 =
𝑉𝑠
𝑉𝑣
𝑛= 𝑊𝑠 = 𝛾𝑠 𝑉𝑠 = 𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤 𝑉𝑠 = 2.68(9.81)(6)
𝑉
𝑉𝑣 = 157.74 𝑘𝑁
0.40 =
10
𝑊𝑤 = 𝑤𝑊𝑠 = 0.12 157.74 = 18.93 𝑘𝑁
For S=100%, the voids should
𝑉𝑣 = 0.40 10 = 4 𝑚3 be completely filled with water

𝑉𝑠 = 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑣 = 10 − 4 = 6 𝑚3 𝑊𝑤
𝛾𝑤 =
𝑉𝑤
Solve for the existing volume of water in the soil: 𝑊𝑤 18.93 𝑘𝑁 3
𝑉𝑤 = = = 1.93 𝑚
𝑊𝑤 𝛾𝑤 9.81 𝑘𝑁/𝑚3
𝑤=
𝑊𝑠
existing volume of water
Solution:

Solve for the additional volume of water for the soil to be saturated:

𝑉𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑡 ′ 𝑙 = 𝑉𝑣 − 𝑉𝑤 = 4 − 1.93 = 2.07 𝑚3

Solve for the additional mass of water for the soil to be saturated:

𝑀𝑤
𝜌𝑤 =
𝑉𝑤
𝑘𝑔
𝑀𝑤 = 𝜌𝑤 𝑉𝑤 = 1000 2.07 𝑚3 = 𝟐𝟎𝟕𝟎. 𝟒 𝐤𝐠
𝑚3
For a given sandy soil, 𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.75 and 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 0.4. Let 𝐺𝑠 = 2.68. In the field, the soil is compacted to
a moist density of 112 lb/ft3 at a moisture content of 12%. Determine the relative density of
compaction.

Solution:
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒 0.75 − 0.672
𝐷𝑟 = 𝐷𝑟 = = 0.222 = 𝟐𝟐. 𝟐%
𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛 0.75 − 0.4
(1 + 𝑤)𝐺𝑠 𝛾𝑤
𝛾=
1+𝑒
(1 + 0.12)(2.68) (62.4)
112 =
1+𝑒

𝑒 = 0.672
Das, Braja M., and Khaled Sobhan. (2014). Principles of Geotechnical Engineering. Cengage Learning.

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