Soil Moisture Test

     In this experiment, we weighed a small tray of aluminum foil, then was placed several spoonfuls of our soil on to the tray and weighed the tray with the soil. Next we placed the tray with the soil into a drying oven for 24 hours at a temperature around 90-95 degrees. This allowed the soil to dry and evaporate the water out of the soil. after being dried for 24 hours, the soil was taken out and we let it cool for a couple minutes and then we weighed the tray and soil again. After being dried, the soil lost 19.1 grams, which is most likely all from water.

The aluminum foil weighed 3.3grams.

The moist soil weighed 69.5grams.

The dry soil weighed 50.4 grams.

The percent water, by mass, in our soil was 37.90%.

     Our soil texture test and soil moisture test were similar because both showed the soil was mainly clay. Our soil was able to hold 19.1 grams of water which goes with the idea of our soil being clay, as found in the soil texture test, because the clay has smaller particles which means it holds more water because it has poor drainage.

     

     We learned that sand, the largest particle, has a better drainage system than clay, smallest particle, which meant that the sand held less water than the clay. Silt, the medium size particle, would hold more water than sand but less than clay. This means there is a correlation between texture and moisture because depending on what type of particle the soil contains, the soil will be more moist (hold more water) if the particle is smaller and will be less moist (hold less water) if the particle is larger.