Properties of Soil – Part 1

Table of Contents

• Properties of Water
• Absorption of Water

– Formula for Calculating Water Absorbed by the Soil

• Summary
• What’s Next?

In the previous segment of the chapter Soil, we learnt about Various types of soil. In this segment, we will understand the different properties of soil in general.

What are the Properties of water?

There are many properties of soil, but we will be learning about three major properties:

• Absorption of water by the soil
• Percolation of water in the soil
• Moisture content in the soil.

Let us begin with the absorption of water by the soil.

What is Absorption of water?

Let us understand the property of water absorption using a sponge. If a sponge is kept on a water surface, the water disappears. This is because the sponge allows the water to get inside it and remain between its particles. This is known as the absorption of water.

Soil is capable of absorbing water. But different types of soil have different gaps between its particles. So, the amount of water absorbed by each type of soil differs. For example, the particles in sandy soil have a lot of space between them. So they cannot hold a lot of water. At the same time, the particles in clay have almost very little space between them. Thus, clay can absorb and retain water for a longer time.

What is the formula for calculating the water absorbed by the soil?

The amount of water absorbed in the soil can be given by the formula

Percentage of water absorbed=^{?????? ?? ????? ????????} × 100

????ℎ? ?? ???? ?????

Let us understand this with a simple experiment.

Things needed:

• A beaker
• A funnel