What Is the Total Pore Space in the Soil?

This lab activity aims to determine the porosity of soil samples and compare the effects of particle size and sorting on total pore space. Porosity is the percentage of open-pore spaces in a given volume of soil, which determines the total amount of water and air that a material can hold. The lab exercise requires five plastic tubes, plastic beads of different sizes, mixed sand, a graduated container, water, and soil samples. The procedure involves filling the graduated container with water, filling the plastic tubes with different materials and compacting them, adding water to each tube, and recording the volume of water added. The data collected is used to calculate the porosity of each of the five samples tested. The field exercise involves filling a bucket of a known volume with soil or compost and filling it with water to calculate the porosity. The interpretation of the results helps to understand how to improve soil.