Question

Assume you have a 150 cm3 soil sample. The volume of the soil filled with water (VW) is 45 cm3 and the volume filled with air (VA) is 35 cm3. What is the total porosity (in percent)?

Please provide step by step solution so that I can understand how to solve it. Thank you!

Answer 1

53.33%

Step-by-step explanation:

Data provided in the question;

Volume of the soil sample = 150 cm³

Volume of the water in the soil = 45 cm³

Volume of air in the soil = 35 cm³

Now,

The porosity is given as:

η =
`\frac{\textup{Total Volume of voids}}{\textup{Total volume of the soil}}`

Also,

Total volume of voids = Volume of water + Volume of air

or

Total volume of voids = 45 cm³ + 35 cm³ = 80 cm³

Therefore,

η =
`\frac{\textup{80}}{\textup{150}}`

or

η = 0.5333

or

η = 0.5333 × 100% = 53.33%