A sample of silty clay is placed in a metal container for wa

A sample of silty clay is placed in a metal container for water content determination. The weight of the sample plus container was 28.44 g before own drying and 20.32 g after oven drying. The empty container weighed 10.59 g. Calculate the water content of the sample.

Solution

Let W_C be the weight of the empty container, W_dc be the weight of dry clay, W_w be the weight of water contained.

The total weight when measured before drying = W_C + W_dc + W_w = 28.44g

After the drying process the total water content would have evaporated from the clay, so the weight measured after the drying will include only the weight of the container and weight of the dry sand.

So the weight after drying = W_C + W_dc = 20.32g

So the weight of water contained in the clay = Total Weight - ( W_C + W_dc ) = 28.44 - 20.32 = 8.32g