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Relative density of soil

Description

Silts, sands and gravels are classified by their size, and hence they may consist of a variety of minerals. Owing to the stability of quartz compared to other rock minerals, quartz is the most common constituent of sand and silt. Mica, and feldspar are other common minerals present in sands and silts. The mineral constituents of gravel may be more similar to that of the parent rock. Soils consist of a mixture of particles of different size, shape and mineralogy. There are a variety of parameters used to describe the relative proportions of air, water and solid in a soil. This section defines these parameters and some of their interrelationships.

The density of sands (cohesionless soils) is often characterized by the relative density, Dr. If Dr = 100 % the sand or gravel is very dense, and if Dr = 0 % the soil is extremely loose and unstable.

Related formulas

Variables

DrRelative density of soil (dimensionless) (dimensionless)
emaxmaximum void ratio (dimensionless) (dimensionless)
evoid ratio (dimensionless) (dimensionless)
eminminimum void ratio (dimensionless) (dimensionless)