Percentage of water contain in soil.

Data collection and process and discussion conclusion and evaluation

Aim: To estimate the percentage of water content of the given sample of soil from different
landuse.
Hypothesis:- I hypothesize that the amount of water will be different as we go to different types
of land. In this experiment, the soil sample from the river bank to garden or playground abiotic
factors temperature and playground might influence the volume of water in different samples of
soil.
Pre- requisite knowledge: The water content refers to the volume of water present in the soil
sample. The soil samples were collected from playground, kitchen garden and bank of a river. As
seen, the capital of a South Indian state Telengana has a water shortage and the state also faced a
problem of rain this year so the water content may differ from a region which gets adequate
water supply naturally.
Materials required:

Digger
Polythene bags
Forceps
Scalpel
Beaker
Test tube
Sprite lamp
Physical balance
Crucibles
Weight box

Procedure:
1. Collect different types of soil samples from 3 different places.
2. Take a crucible and weigh it. Note down its weight
3. Now take some volume of soil and weigh it. Now weight it.

4. Now heat the crucible with soil on a tripod stand with a spirit lamp. With constant staring
up to 100degree Celsius.
5. Now weight this again, repeat the heating process for 3 times until the change in weight
is constant.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for 3 different samples, three times each.
Raw data Collection:
The table below shows the weight of soil with water and without water contained in each sample.
Soil samples

Playground

Bank of a water body

Kitchen Garden

Weight of crucible

32.90 g

49.52 g

36.48 g

Weight of crucible with

47.90 g

64.52 g

51.48 g

soil
Amount of soil taken

15.00 g

15.00 g

15.00 g

Weight after heating

45.63 g

60.62 g

49.67 g

first time
Weight after heating

45.59 g

60.61 g

49.64 g

second time
Weight after heating

45.57 g

60.60 g

49.63 g

third time

Data Processing
The volume of water present in the soil can be calculated by a simple formula:

NOTE: Amount of water loss is the amount of water present in the soil

The table below shows the amount of water loss after heating
Soil samples

Kitchen garden

Bank of a river

Playground

Average weight of the

45.59 g

60.61 g

49.64 g

sample after heating

Weight of water loss in

2.31 g

3.91 g

1.84 g

grams
Volume of water loss in

2.31 ml

3.91 ml

1.84 ml

milliliters
Percent of water present

15.4 %

26.06 %

12.26 %

in soil

As seen, the water contain found on the banks of the river was the highest, the kitchen garden
had moderate water contain and the playground soil had the least volume of water.

Graph 1
The graph below shows the average weight of soil sample after heating

As we can see the weight of the soil decreases as we heat the soil this is due to loss in the water
present in the soil.

Graph 2 The graph below shows the amount of water loss due to heating of the soil samples.

Discussion: The aim of this experiment was to measure the percentage of water present in the
soil samples collected from different sites. The maximum percentage of water was found in the
soil collected from the bank of a river that is always wet than the soil collected form kitchen
garden or from the playground which showed the least amount of water present. The varying %

of water content can either be due to natural reasons or human induced. The soil of the kitchen
garden is regularly watered whereas the playground is occasionally watered or never unless there
is rain. But due to continuous exposure to suns heat the water is constantly evaporated more
from the playground as compared to the kitchen garden, that might have few big trees providing
shade.

Evaluation
LIMITATION

Impact of each limitation on

Improvement to reduce or

I could only take three

the result
If it was possible to take data

eliminate each limitation

In future I will make my plan

samples due to lack of time.

from about 7 to8 sites, the

in such a way that I will be

comparison would have been

able to collect sufficient data

The experiment was

better.
The volume of water present

to make result more reliable .

In future I will plan my

conducted during the times of

could have been more than

experiments in such a way that

rain

usual.

the season will not make a

major impact on my results

Conclusion: Hence from the results derived from the primary and secondary data collected, I
would conclude that, the volume of water present in the soil is due to the ways the land is used or
its location beside any natural features (eg: water body). Hence I can conclude that the soil
particles on the bank of river will contain more water than the kitchen garden or playground
which is either watered manually at regular interval or naturally watered by rain.
Safety precaution:

Use gloves, mask and proper footwear while collecting soil from sources.
Wear a lab coat, gloves, mask and an eye protector while performing the experiment.
Be careful while heating the soil samples.
Wash hands properly after the experiment is completed.