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Bulk density
 
 
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Bulk density is a property of powders, granules and other "divided" solids, especially used in reference to soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
. It is defined as the mass
Mass

In physical science, mass refers to the degree of acceleration a body acquires when subject to a force: bodies with greater mass are accelerated less by the same force....
 of many particles of the material divided by the total volume
Volume

The volume of any solid, liquid, plasma, vacuum or theoretical object is how much three-dimensional space it occupies, often quantified numerically....
 they occupy. The total volume includes particle volume, inter-particle void volume and internal pore volume.

Bulk density
Density

The density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol of density is ....
 is not an intrinsic property of a material; it can change depending on how the material is handled.






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Bulk density is a property of powders, granules and other "divided" solids, especially used in reference to soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
. It is defined as the mass
Mass

In physical science, mass refers to the degree of acceleration a body acquires when subject to a force: bodies with greater mass are accelerated less by the same force....
 of many particles of the material divided by the total volume
Volume

The volume of any solid, liquid, plasma, vacuum or theoretical object is how much three-dimensional space it occupies, often quantified numerically....
 they occupy. The total volume includes particle volume, inter-particle void volume and internal pore volume.

Bulk density
Density

The density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol of density is ....
 is not an intrinsic property of a material; it can change depending on how the material is handled. For example, a powder poured in to a cylinder will have a particular bulk density; if the cylinder is disturbed, the powder particles will move and usually settle closer together, resulting in a higher bulk density. For this reason, the bulk density of powders is usually reported both as "freely settled" and "tapped" density (where the tapped density refers to the bulk density of the powder after a specified compaction process, usually involving vibration of the container.)

Soil


The bulk density
Bulk density

Bulk density is a property of powders, granules and other "divided" solids, especially used in reference to soil. It is defined as the mass of many particles of the material divided by the total volume they occupy....
 of soil depends greatly on the mineral make up of soil and the degree of compaction
Soil compaction

Soil compaction occurs when weight of livestock or heavy machinery compresses soil, causing it to lose pore space. Affected soils become less able to absorb rainfall, thus increasing Runoff and erosion....
. The density of quartz
Quartz

Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust . It is made up of a Crystal structure of silica tetrahedra. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale and a density of 2.65 g/cm?....
 is around 2.65g/cm³ but the bulk density of a mineral soil is normally about half that density, between 1.0 and 1.6g/cm³. Soils high in organics and some friable clay may have a bulk density well below 1g/cm³

Bulk density of soil is usually determined on Core sample
Core sample

A core sample is a cylindrical section of a naturally occurring medium consistent enough to hold a layered structure. Most cores are obtained by drilling into the medium, for example the earth, with a hollow steel tube called a corer....
s which are taken by driving a metal corer into the soil at the desired depth and horizon. The samples are then oven dried and weighed.

Bulk density = mass of oven dry soil/core volume

The bulk density of soil is inversely related
Inverse relationship

An inverse or negative relationship is a mathematical relationship in which one variable, say y, decreases as another, say x, increases....
 to the porosity
Porosity

Porosity is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is measured as a fraction, between 0?1, or as a percentage between 0?100%. The term is used in multiple fields including ceramics, metallurgy, materials, manufacturing, earth sciences and construction....
 of the same soil. The more pore space in a soil the lower the value for bulk density.

See also

  • Brazil nut effect
    Brazil nut effect

    The Brazil nut effect is the name given to a phenomenon in which the largest particles end up on the surface when a granular material containing a mixture of objects of different sizes is shaken....
  • Characterisation of pore space in soil
    Characterisation of pore space in soil

    Soil is essential to most life on the earth. It is a relatively thin crust where an even smaller portion contains much of the biological activity. Soil consists of three different phases ....
  • Effective porosity
    Effective porosity

    The term effective porosity lacks a single or straightforward definition. Even some of the terms used in its mathematical description have multiple definitions....
  • Particle density
    Particle density

    The particle density or true density of a particulate solid or powder, is the density of the particles that make up the powder, in contrast to the bulk density, which measures the average density of a large volume of the powder in a specific medium ....
  • Porosity
    Porosity

    Porosity is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is measured as a fraction, between 0?1, or as a percentage between 0?100%. The term is used in multiple fields including ceramics, metallurgy, materials, manufacturing, earth sciences and construction....


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