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Name: ___________________ Program/ Year/ Section: __________ Score: ___________

Problem Set

CE119 – CE Integrated Course 2

(SOIL MECHANICS)

Directions: Solve the following problems. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. When the moisture content of a soil sample is 3.45%, the degree of saturation is 18.09%. When the
moisture content of the same sample is 5.56%, determine its degree of saturation.
a. 18.82% b. 23.07% c. 29.15% d. 11.22%
2. The air void ratio of a soil sample is 8% when 30% saturated. Find the air void ratio of the same soil
sample when 90% saturated.
a. 24% b. 1.14% c. 2.67% d. 11.69%
SITUATION I. The moist unit weights and degree of saturation of a soil sample are given as follows:
Moist Unit Weight (lb/ft3) Degree of Saturation (%)
105.73 50
112.67 75

3. Which of the following most nearly gives the specific gravity of the soil solids?
a. 2.65 b. 2.73 c. 2.58 d. 2.62
4. Which of the following most nearly gives the percent soil solids?
a. 43.56% b. 55.51% c. 62.17% d. 33.88%
5. Which of the following most nearly gives the dry unit weight of the soil?
a. 86.45 lb/ft3 b. 91.80 lb/ft3 c. 94.07 lb/ft3 d. 80.34 lb/ft3
SITUATION II. Determine the formula for each item given below.
6. Saturated Unit Weight of Soil.
a. [(1+n)Gs+n]γw b. [(1+n)Gs-n]γw c. [(1-n)Gs+n]γw d. . [(1-n)Gs+n]γw
7. Unit Weight of Soil.
a. (1-n)(1-ω)Gs γw b. (1-n)(1+ω)Gs γw c. (1+n)(1+ω)Gs γw d. 7(1+n)(1-ω)Gs γw
8. Moisture Content of a saturated soil.
a) e/Gs(1-e) b. e/Gs(1+e) c. n/Gs(1+n) d. n/Gs(1-n)
SITUATION III. A specimen of moist soil weighing 122g has an apparent specific gravity of 1.82. The
specific gravity of the solids is 2.53. After the specimen is oven-dried, the weight is 104g.
9. Which of the following most nearly gives the void ratio of the original mass?
a) 0.7868 b. 0.5204 c. 0.6307 d. 0.6852
10. Which of the following most nearly gives the void ratio of the original mass?
a) 0.4403 b. 0.3868 c. 0.4066 d. 0.3423
11. Which of the following most nearly gives the dry density of the soil mass?
a) 1.66g/cm3 b. 1.50g/cm3 c. 1.42 g/cm3 d. 1.55 g/cm3
Situation IV. An earth dam requires 1 million cubic meters of soil compacted to a void ratio of 0.80. In the
vicinity of the proposed dam, four borrow pits were identified as having suitable materials. The cost of
purchasing the soil and the cost of excavation is the same for each borrow pit. The only cost difference is
transportation cost. The table below provides the void ratio and the transportation cost for each borrow pit.

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Transportation Cost
Borrow Pit Void Ratio
(P/m3)

1 1.80 P35.00/m3

2 0.90 P50.00/ m3

3 1.50 P37.50/ m3

4 1.30 P42.00/ m3

12. Which of the following nearly gives the cost for borrow pit 2?
a) P53.67 million b. P46.67 million c. P52.08 million d. P52.78 million
13. Which of the following nearly gives the cost for borrow pit 2?
a) P53.67 million b. P54.44million c. P52.08 million d. P52.78 million
14. Which of the following borrow pits would be the most economical?
a) Borrow Pit 1 b. Borrow Pit 2 c. Borrow Pit 3 d. Borrow Pit 4
SITUATION V. The unit weight of a soil sample is 1,900kg/m3 and the unit weight of the soil particles is
2,660 kg/m3. The soil has a moisture content of 12%. The void ratios corresponding to the densest and
loosest state of the soil are 0.42 and 0.63, respectively.
15. Which of the following nearly gives the dry unit weight of the soil?
a) 17.06kN/m3 b. 16.10kN/m3 c. 17.82kN/m3 d. 16.64kN/m3
16. Which of the following nearly gives the void ratio of the soil?
a) 0.46 b. 0.62 c. 0.57 d. 0.53
17. Which of the following nearly gives the relative density of the soil?
a) 46.59 % b. 80.36 % c. 46.74% d. 29.52%
Situation VI. A sandy soil has a natural water content of 27.50% and bulk unit weight of 19.20 kN/m3. The
void ratios corresponding to the densest and loosest state are 0.51 and 0.87, respectively. Assume G=2.70.
18. Which of the following nearly gives the situ-void ratio of the soil?
a) 0.8321 b. 0.7589 c. 0.7765 d. 0.8119
19. Which of the following nearly gives the degree of saturation of the soil?
a) 97.84% b. 95.72% c. 91.60% d. 89.23%
20. Which of the following nearly gives the relative density of the soil?
a) 26.11% b. 16.39% c. 10.56% d. 30.86%
Situation VII. For a sand sample, the maximum and minimum possible void ratios were determined in
the laboratory to be 0.94 and 0.33, respectively. The relative density of the sand is 60% and the moisture
content is 10%. The specific gravity G=2.65.
21. Which of the following nearly gives the moist unit weight of sand compacted in the field?
a) 18.17 kN/m3 b. 17.83 kN/m3 c. 19.61 kN/m3 d. 16.52 kN/m3
22. Which of the following nearly gives the maximum possible dry unit weight that the sand can have?
a) 15.46 kN/m3 b. 13.40 kN/m3 c. 19.55 kN/m3 d. 20.08 kN/m3
23. Which of the following nearly gives the minimum possible dry unit weight that the sand can have?
a) 15.46 kN/m3 b. 13.40 kN/m3 c. 19.55 kN/m3 d. 20.08 kN/m3
Situation VII. The result of plastic limit determination of a soil sample is given below.
Trial Mass of Container with Mass of Container Moisture Content
wet soil (grams) with dry soil (grams) (%)
1 33.43 29.81
2 32.16 28.52 21.05
3 34.80 20.17
4 35.47 31.29

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24. Which of the following nearly gives the mass of the container used in all trials?
a) 11.23 g b. 12.82 g c. 10.52 g d. 11.11 g
25. Which of the following nearly gives the mass of the dry soil in the third trial?
a) 19.72 g b. 20.20 g c. 19.61 g d. 18.29 g
26. Which of the following nearly gives the plastic limit of the soil?
a) 20.38% b. 20.86% c. 19.87% d. 19.33%
SITUATION IX. A liquid limit test conducted on a soil sample in the cup device gave the following results:
Number of Blows 10 19 23 27 40
Water Content 60 45.2 39.8 36.5 25.2
Two determinations for the plastic limit gave water contents of 20.3% and 20.8%.
27. Which of the following nearly gives the liquid limit of the soil sample?
a) 55% b. 46% c. 38% d. 51%
28. Which of the following nearly gives the plastic limit of the soil sample?
a) 20.55% b. 20.62% c. 20.41% d. 20.76%
29. Which of the following nearly gives the void ratio at the liquid limit if G=2.70?
a) 0.75 b. 1.03 c. 0.29 d. 0.55

SITUATION X. The table shows the date for a shrinkage limit test.
Mass of Coated dish = 15.64 g
Mass of Coated dish with wet soil = 76.47 g
Mass of Coated dish with dry soil = 62.56 g
Volume of wet soil = 32.85 cm3
Mass of dish = 130.00 g
Mass of dish and displaced mercury = 240.70 g
Unit mass of mercury = 13.60 g/cm3
30. Which of the following nearly gives the initial water content of the soil?
a) 33.72% b. 29.65% c. 27.96% d. 26.02%
31. Which of the following nearly gives the shrinkage limit of the soil?
a) 13.62% b. 11.42% c. 12.30% d. 14.93%
32. Which of the following nearly gives the shrinkage ratio?
a) 1.77 b. 1.90 c. 1.82 d. 1578.9 Pa

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SITUATION XI. A soil sample was determined in the laboratory to have a liquid limit of 52% and plastic
limit of 34%. The soil has a natural water content of 44%.
33. Which of the following nearly gives the plastic index of the soil?
a) 12% b. 18% c. 26% d. 14%
34. Which of the following nearly gives the liquidity index of the soil?
a) -1.06 b. -0.56 c. 1.06 d. 0.56
35. Which of the following nearly gives the nature of the soil based on its liquidity index??
a) liquid b. semi-solid c. plastic d. cannot be identified
SITUATION XII. The Atterberg’s limit values for a certain soil sample are LL=70%, PL=46% and
SL=16%. The in-situ moisture content of the soil is 52%.
36. Which of the following nearly gives the shrinkage index?
a) 54% b. 36% c. 24% d. 30%
37. Which of the following nearly gives the liquidity index?
a) 0.25 b. 0.27 c. 0.32 d. 0.35
38. Which of the following nearly gives the consistency index?
a) 0.39 b. 0.36 c. 0.44 d. 0.32
SITUATION XIII. A sample of dry soil was shaken through a nest of sieves and the following results were
obtained:
Sieve No. Diameter (mm) Mass Retained in
(grams)
4 4.750 15.80
8 2.360 5.10
10 2.000 13.00
20 0.850 54.80
40 0.425 71.00
60 0.250 31.40
80 0.180 4.90
100 0.150 2.30
200 0.075 6.70
Pan 1.80

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39. Which of the following nearly gives the effective size of the sample?
a) 0.22 mm b. 0.27 mm c. 0.34 mm d. 0.39 mm
40. Which of the following nearly gives the uniform coefficient of the sample?
a) 4.07 b. 3.78 c. 4.38 d. 3.44
SITUATION XIV. A soil has modified percentages of silt and clay which are 26.15%and 43.08%,
respectively.

41. Which of the following nearly gives the classification of the soil?
b) Sandy Clay b. clay c. clay loam d. silty clay loam
42. Which of the following nearly gives the mass of the clay particles if the mass of silt is 37.18 grams for
the given soil?
a) 61.25 g b. 40.75 g c. 36.21 g d. 48.06 g

SITUATION XV. The sieve analysis of three soils and the liquid and plastic limits of the fraction passing
no. 40 sieve are given below. Use AASHTO classification system.

Percent finer, %
Sieve No.
A B C
10 98 100 83
40 80 92 48
200 50 80 20
LL 38 56 20
PL 29 23 15

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Western Philippines University A STRONG PARTNER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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43. Which of the following nearly gives the classification of soil A with its group index?
a) A-4(3) b. A-6(3) c. A-4(10) d. A-6(10)
44. Which of the following nearly gives the classification of soil B with its group index?
a) A-7-5 (16) b. A-7-6 (16) c. A-7-5 (20) d. A-7-6 (20)
45. Which of the following nearly gives the classification of soil C with its group index?
a) A-3 (0) b. A-2-4(0) c. A-1-b(0) d. A-1-a (0)

Prepared by:

______________________
Engr. Reycielo B. Denzon
Instructor I

WPU-QSF-ACAD-14A Rev. 01 (09.05.22)