Final answer:
Absorption capacity is related to the total porosity of an aggregate but is influenced by other factors such as pore size and interconnectivity. While it can indicate how much water a soil can hold, it does not provide a direct measure of total porosity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Absorption capacity is indeed related to the total porosity of an aggregate, as it reflects the ability of soil to hold water within its pore spaces. However, it's not an exact measure of the total porosity since this capacity is also influenced by factors like the size and interconnectivity of the pores.
Porosity is the percentage of void space within a material compared to its total volume. Highly porous materials, like sandstones, can contain more water because they have more space between the grains. This concept is crucial in geology and civil engineering where understanding soil and rock porosity is key to applications such as water management and building foundational stability.
To determine an aggregate's total porosity, one could saturate the soil by adding water until all pore spaces are filled. The volume of water added gives an indication of the porosity. This process, however, differs from measuring absorption capacity, as some water can be removed by gravity or uptake by plants, which is not directly indicative of the total pore space available.