1

A soil is a set of particles of different size and shape that can be

desegregated with the hands when wet.

2
a. Voids ratio.

b. Porosity.

c. Degree of saturation.

d. Volumetric water content.

e. Gravimetric water content.

f. Specific weight of solids

g. Dry volumetric weight

h. Natural volumetric weight.

1. Which are the main agents generators of soils? And what is the end product of
eachoneofthem?

The main agents generators of soil are ice, gravity,

water, etc

2. Namethedifferenttypesoftransportedsoilsandgiveaqualitativemeasuretoeachoneof
theminrelationtoitsstrength,compressibilityandheterogeneityusingtheadjectiveslow,
medium,largeandverylarge.
Glacial Large Low /
Moraine Large Low /
Fluvial Medium Medium /
Lacustraine Low VeryLarge =































Alluvial Medium Medium =
Eolic Medium Medium =
Marine Low Large =

3. Makeadrawofthestructureofkaolinitesillitesandmontmorinolitesrepresenting
thealuminateandsilicabasicsheets.

4. Whatdeterminesthecationexchangecapacityofthesoil?

The positive surface charge of wet clay is a function of its cation

exchange capacity (CEC). The cation exchange capacity is related
to the concentration of compensating cations on the clay surface
which can be exchanged for other cations available in solution.

5. Givethemaximumandminimumsizesforgravels,sand,siltandclay.

25 mm Gravels 4.7mm Sand .074mm Silt .002mm

Clay

6. According whit the mechanical sieving: whats the difference between a poorly
gradedsoilandawellgradedsoil?

7. Whatisthetixotropyofthesoilandhowitismeasured?

Is a measurement that estimates the ability of certain clays to recover their

resistance characteristics after an energetic remolded, Montmorillonite clays
present the maximum tixotropy recovering cohesion and the solid state along
time

8. Makeadrawoftheplasticitychartusedforfinematerial.Placethelocationofhigh
and low compressibility material. Place the location for clays and silts and the
doublesymbolmaterial.

9. Explain the method to obtain the shrinkage or contraction limit of the soil. Show
themathematicalprocedure.

10. Whathappensiftheheightoffallofcassagrandecupincreasefrom1to1.1cm?
Explaingraphically.

If the height of casagrandes cup increase 0.1 cm the liquid limit will
be affected and the result will be lower than it really is

11. Namethedirectandindirectexplorationtechniquesusedinsoilmechanics.

12. Describe the standard penetration test technique and make a draw of the
standardreportforthistest.

The standard penetration test (SPT) is an in-situ dynamic penetration test designed to provide
information on the geotechnical engineering properties of soil. The test uses a thick-walled sample tube,
with an outside diameter of 50 mm and an inside diameter of 35 mm, and a length of around 650 mm.
This is driven into the ground at the bottom of a borehole by blows from a slide hammer with a weight of
63.5 kg (140 lb) falling through a distance of 760 mm (30 in). The sample tube is driven 150 mm into the
ground and then the number of blows needed for the tube to penetrate each 150 mm (6 in) up to a depth
of 450 mm (18 in) is recorded. The sum of the number of blows required for the second and third 6 in. of
penetration is termed the "standard penetration resistance" or the "N-value". In cases where 50 blows
are insufficient to advance it through a 150 mm (6 in) interval the penetration after 50 blows is recorded.
The blow count provides an indication of the density of the ground, and it is used in
many empirical geotechnical engineering formulae.

1. The total weight of the sample was 242.2 gr. The sieve analysis for the coarse
materialwas.

Sieve Size Retained
(Nbr) (mm) (gr)
4 4.7 33.1
10 1.65 25.3
20 0.833 23.9
28 0.569 205
35 0.417 23.2
100 0.147 32.5
130 0.104 28.2
200 0.074 33.5


Thehydrometergavethefollowing
resultsforthefinematerial.

Size (%)finer
0.067 95.3
0.057 80.8
0.040 65.2
0.030 40.3
0.020 25.1
0.011 15.1

Drawthecompletegrainsizedistributiongraphincludingcoarseandfinematerial.ObtaintheCdand
Cuofthematerial.ObtaintheL.LandtheP.L.,accordingtothefollowingresults

Test Blows Weightof Weightof
Weightof
container


containerplus

containerplus

(gr)




wetsoil

drysoil




(gr)

(gr)


1 42 35.77 22.48 14.15

2 28-29 36.55 24.4 16.85

3 18 33.42 21.03 13.45

4 9-10 35.17 21.65 13.5


Fortheplasticlimitthefollowingresultswere
obtained

1 16.05 14.68 13.15

2 15.97 14.47 12.85


Obtaintheclassificationofthefinesofthesoilandtheclassificationofthecompletematerial.
















1. Make a plot of the volumetric behavior of soils in the axis weight vs. volume and obtain the
equationforvolumetriccontractionlimitusingthisplot.

2. Name the different types of transported soils and give a qualitative measure to each one of them in
relationtoitsstrengthcompressibilityandheterogeneityusingtheadjectiveslow,medium,largeandvery
large.

3. Makeadrawofthestructureofkaolinites,illites,andmontmorinolitesrepresentingthealuminate
andsilicabasicsheets.

4. Givethemaximumandminimumsizesofgravels,sand,siltandclay.

5. According to the mechanical sieving: what is a uniform soil? Make a sketch of the grain size
distributioncurveforawellgradedandpoorlygradedsoil.

6. Definesensitivityofsoilsandsayhowitisobtained.

7. Make a draw of the plasticity chart used for fine material. Place the location of high and low
compressibilitymaterial.Placethelocationfordaysandsiltsandthedoublesymbolmaterial.

8. Namethedirectandindirectexplorationtechniquesusedinsoilmechanics.

9. Describethestandardpenetrationtestandmakeadrawofthestandardreportforthistest.




















2. What is the definition of following parameters of the soil, Gives the maximum value that typical
soilshaveforeachoneoftheseparameters.

a. Voidsratio.

b. Porosity.

c. Degreeofsaturation.

d. Volumetricwatercontent.

e. Gravimetricwatercontent.

f. Specificweightofsolids.

g. Dryvolumetricweight.

h. Naturalvolumetricweight.

3. Makeadrawofthestructureofkaolinites,illitesandmontmorinolitesrepresentingthealuminate
andsilicabasicsheets.

4. Givethemaximumandminimumsizesforgravels,sand,siltandclay.

5. Make a draw of the plasticity chart used for fine materials, place the location of high and low
compressibilitymaterial.Placethelocationforclaysandsiltsandthedoublesymbolmaterial.

6. Namethedirectandindirectexplorationtechniquesusedinsoilmechanics