KAY SIR DS LANG NA GEOTECH ITO :P FOR CE-3E

1. The mineral grains that form the solid phase of a soil aggregate are the product of Rock Weathering
2. Many of the physical properties of soil are dictated by the size, shape, and chemical composition of
the grains.
3. Small Sand particles located close to their origin are generally angular
4. It is the smooth and fine quality of the soul that holds water better than sand. Silt
5. N/m^3 is the SI unit of unit weight
6. These rocks are formed by the solidification of molten magma ejected from deep within the earth’s
mantle. Igneous rocks
7. Granite, gabbro, and basalt are some common types of igneous rocks.
8. For clayey and silty soils, the specific gravity of particles may vary from 2.6 to 2.9.
9. Limestone is a sedimentary rock
10. These particles are predominantly clay minerals. Flaky
11. The particles smaller than 0.075 mm are referred to as fines
12. The unit weight of water is 9.81 kN/m^3
13. The particles in this are tightly packed together with each with very little or no airspace. Clay
14. Metamorphism is the changing of composition and texture of rocks (without melting) by heat and
pressure
15. Sieve analysis (grain size analysis) consists of shaking the soil sample through a set of sieves that
have progressively smaller openings.
16. Weathering is the process of breaking down rocks by mechanical and chemical processes into smaller
pieces.
17. Rocks can be divided into three basic types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
18. Sometimes magma ceases its mobility below the earth’s surface and cools to form intrusive igneous
rocks that are called plutons.
19. An incorrect statement: Soil is defined as the cemented aggregate of mineral grains and decayed
organic matter (solid particles) with liquid and gas in the empty spaces between the solid particles.
20. Physical properties of soil depend on size, shape, and chemical composition of soil grains
21. Particle size distribution curve is used for determining the percentages of different particle-size
fractions in a soil. It also is used in comparing and classifying different soils.
22. ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials
23. Hydrometer analysis for particle size distribution curve is based on Stoke’s Law
24. It is defined as the ratio of the unit weight of a given material to the unit weight of water. Specific
Gravity
25. Plasticity is the putty-like property of clays that contains a certain amount of water.
26. Non Clay soils can contain particles of quartz, feldspar, or mica that are small enough to be within
the clay classification
27. Sandy soils is usually formed by the breakdown or fragmentation of rocks like granite, limestone,
and quartz
28. Examples of soils containing needle-shaped particles are some coral deposits and attapulgite
Clays
29. Loam is the fourth type of soil. It is a combination of sand, silt, and clay such that the beneficial
properties from each are included
30. Gravels are pieces of rocks with occasional particles of quartz, feldspar, and other minerals
31. Soil is a very broad term and refers to the loose layer of the earth that covers the surface fo the
planet.
32. The particle shape generally can be divided into three major categories, namely bulky, flaky, and
needle-shaped
33. Clay is the densest and heaviest type of soil which does not drain well or provide space for plant roots
to flourish.
34. Hydrometer analysis is based on the principle of sedimentation of soil grains in water
35. Flaky particles have very low sphericity—usually 0.01 or less. These particles are predominantly clay
minerals.
36. Bulky particles are formed mostly by mechanical weathering of rock and minerals
37. For soil to form from rocks, it takes an average of 500 years or more.
38. Soil is classified into four types, namely, sandy soil, silt soil, clay soil, and loamy soil.
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39. Sandy soils are one of the poorest types of soil for growing plants because it has very low nutrients
and poor water holding capacity, which makes it hard for the plant’s roots to absorb water.
40. Silt, which is known to have much smaller particles compared to sandy soil and is made up of rock
and other mineral particles, which are smaller than sand and larger than clay.
41. Mechanical analysis is the determination of the size range of particles present in a soil, expressed as a
percentage of the total dry weight.
42. sieve analysis - for particle sizes larger than 0.075 mm in diameter,
43. hydrometer analysis - for particle sizes smaller than 0.075 mm in diameter.
44. Needle-shaped particles are much less common than the other two particle types.

LESSON 2
45. relative density is commonly used to indicate the in-situ denseness or looseness of granular soil.
46. Void ratio (e) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of solids.
47. Porosity (n) is defined as the ratio of the volume of voids to the total volume.
48. Degree of saturation (S) is defined as the ratio of the volume of water to the volume of voids.
49. Moisture content can exceed 100%!
50. 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.
51. Unit weight γ is the weight of soil per unit volume.
52. Soils engineers sometimes refer to the unit weight as the moist unit weight.
53. If the soil sample is saturated - that is, the void spaces are completely filled with water.
54. In the early 1900s, a Swedish scientist named Atterberg developed a method to describe the
consistency of fine-grained soils with varying moisture contents.
55. Liquid Limit is the water content at which soil changes from a plastic to a liquid state.
Method of Determining Liquid Limit:
57. Percussion Cup Method (Casagrande Cup Method) - The percussion method was developed by
Casagrande (1932) and used throughout the world.
58. Fall Cone Method (Cone Penetration Method) - ▪Another method of determining liquid limit that is
popular in Europe and Asia is the fall cone method (British Standard –BS1377).
59. The plastic limit is the lower limit of the plastic stage of soil. The plastic limit is defined as the
moisture content in percent, at which the soil crumbles, when rolled into threads of 3.2 mm (1/8 in.) in
diameter.
60.

61. The moisture content, in percent, at which the volume of the soil mass ceases to change is defined as
the shrinkage limit.
62. Volumetric shrinkage (VS) is the decrease in volume (expressed as a percentage of the soil mass
when dried) of a soil mass when the water content is reduced from a given percentage to the shrinkage
limit.
63. Linear shrinkage (LS) is the decrease in length of a solid sample when oven-dried, starting with a
moisture content of the sample at the liquid limit.
64. The relative consistency of a cohesive soil in the natural state can be defined by a ratio called the
liquidity index (LI)

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65. The consistency index (CI) is related to the LI and is an indicator of the relative shear strength,

66. In any particular clay stratum the ratio of the plasticity index to the clay fraction content is
approximately constant, and may be defined as the “activity” of the clay.

LESSON 3
● Classification systems provide a common language to concisely express the general
characteristics of soils, which are infinitely varied, without detailed descriptions.
○ Most of the soil classification systems that have been developed for engineering purposes
are based on simple index properties such as particle-size distribution and plasticity.
● There are two major categories into which the classification systems developed in the past can
be grouped.
1. The textural classification is based on the particle-size distribution of the percent of
sand, silt, and clay-size fractions present in a given soil. U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA).
2. The other major category is based on the engineering behavior of soil and takes into
consideration the particle-size distribution and the plasticity (i.e., liquid limit and
plasticity index).
a. The AASHTO classification system, and (American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials)
b. The Unified classification system.
● Texture of soil refers to its surface appearance.
● Soil texture is influenced by the size of the individual particles present in it.
● Soils are divided into gravel, sand, silt, and clay categories on the basis of particle size.
● natural soils are mixtures of particles from several size groups. In the textural classification
system, the soils are named after their principal components, such as sandy clay, silty clay, and so
forth.
● The textural classification systems developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
○ This classification method is based on the particle-size limits as described under the
USDA system in Table 1-3; that is
■ Sand size: 2.0 to 0.05 mm in diameter
■ Silt size: 0.05 to 0.002 mm in diameter
■ Clay size: smaller than 0.002 mm in diameter

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○ This chart is based on only the fraction of soil that passes through the No. 10 sieve.
Hence, if the particle-size distribution of a soil is such that a certain percentage of the soil
particles is larger than 2 mm in diameter, a correction will be necessary.
○ it is based entirely on the particle-size distribution.
○ The amount and type of clay minerals present in fine-grained soils dictate to a great
extent their physical properties.
● Soils engineer must consider plasticity, which results from the presence of clay minerals, to
interpret soil characteristics properly. Because textural classification systems do not take plasticity
into account and are not totally indicative of many important soil properties, they are inadequate
for most engineering purposes.
● These two more elaborate classification systems are commonly used by soils engineers. Both
systems take into consideration the particle-size distribution and Atterberg limits.
● The AASHTO classification system is used mostly by state and county highway departments.
○ was developed in 1929 as the Public Road Administration classification system.
○ It has undergone several revisions, with the present version proposed by the Committee
on Classification of Materials for Subgrades and Granular Type Roads of the Highway
Research Board in 1945 (ASTM designation D-3282; AASHTO method M145).

○ Plasticity:
■ The term silty is applied when the fine fractions of the soil have a plasticity index
of 10 or less.
■ The term clayey is applied when the fine fractions have a plasticity index of 11 or
more.
○ cobbles and boulders (size larger than 75 mm) are encountered, they are excluded from
the portion of the soil sample from which classification is made. However, the percentage
of such material is recorded.
○ To evaluate the quality of a soil as a highway subgrade material, one must also incorporate
a number called the group index GI with the groups and subgroups of the soil.
○ GI = (F₂₀₀ − 35)[0. 2 + 0. 005(LL − 40)] + 0. 01(F₂₀₀ − 15)( PI − 10) Eq. (3.4)
■ Following are some rules for determining the group index:
1. If Eq. (3.4) yields a negative value for GI, it is taken as 0.
2. The group index calculated from Eq. (3.4) is rounded off to the nearest
whole number (for example, GI = 3.4 is rounded off to 3; GI = 3.5 is
rounded off to 4).
3. There is no upper limit for the group index.
4. The group index of soils belonging to groups A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-4, A-2-5,
and A-3 is always 0.
5. When calculating the group index for soils that belong to groups A-2-6 and
A-2-7, use the partial group index for PI, or
GI = 0. 01(F₂₀₀ − 15)( PI − 10)

● Geotechnical engineers generally prefer the Unified system.

○ original form of this system was proposed by Casagrande in 1942 for use in the airfield
construction works undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II.
○ In cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, this system was revised in 1952.
○ At present, it is used widely by engineers (ASTM Test Designation D-2487).
○ This system classifies soils into two broad categories:
1. Coarse-grained soils that are gravelly and sandy in nature with less than 50%
passing through the No. 200 sieve.
a. The group symbols start with a prefix of G or S. G stands for gravel or
gravelly soil, and S for sand or sandy soil.
2. Fine-grained soils are with 50% or more passing through the No. 200 sieve.
a. The group symbols start with prefixes of M, which stands for inorganic silt,
b. C for inorganic clay, or O for organic silts and clays.
c. The symbol Pt is used for peat, muck, and other highly organic soils.
○
■ W = well graded
■ P = poorly graded
■ L = low plasticity (liquid limit less than 50)
■ H = high plasticity (liquid limit more than 50)

○ For proper classification according to this system, some or all of the following information
must be known:
1. Percent of gravel – that is, the fraction passing the 76.2-mm sieve and retained on the No.
4 sieve (4.75-mm opening)

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2. Percent of sand – that is, the fraction passing the No. 4 sieve (4.75-mm opening) and
retained on the No. 200 sieve (0.075-mm opening)
3. Percent of silt and clay – that is, the fraction finer than the No. 200 sieve (0.075-mm
opening)
4. Uniformity coefficient Cu and the coefficient of gradation Cc
5. Liquid limit and plasticity index of the portion of soil passing the No. 40 sieve

○ The group symbols for coarse-grained gravelly soils are GW, GP, GM, GC, GCGM,
GW-GM, GW-GC, GP-GM, and GP-GC.
○ Similarly, the group symbols for fine-grained soils are CL, ML, OL, CH, MH, OH, CL-ML,
and Pt.
○ More recently, ASTM designation D-2487 created an elaborate system to assign group
names to soils.
○ These names are summarized in Figures 3-4, 3-5, and 3-6.
○ In using these figures, one needs to remember that, in a given soil,
○ Fine fraction = percent passing No. 200 sieve
○ Coarse fraction = percent retained on No. 200 sieve
○ Gravel fraction = percent retained on No. 4 sieve
○ Sand fraction = (percent retained on No. 200 sieve) – (percent retained on No. 4
sieve)

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