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Soil Superman

CSEF · 2007 Earth & Planetary Sciences Fourth Award

Ken Farris · La Colina Junior High School, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of my study is to investigate which soil type is the stiffest and supports the most compressive stress. I hypothesized soils with larger size of particles will support more stress. Methods/Materials In my experiment, the compressibility of five different soils was measured. I put a known amount of weight on the top of a dowel to insert into holes filled with soil. Results Top soil was compressed most, followed by soils with larger size of particles (vermiculite and silt). Pumice, whose particles were largest among the five, was unpredictable, and sand, whose particles were smaller, was completely uncompressible in one condition. Conclusions/Discussion Not only soils with larger particles were stiffer and supported stress well as I hypothesized, but so did sand due to its density.

Summary statement

Tested stiffness of soils with different sized particles.

Help received

Mr. James Neilson, a Ph.D. candidate in Biomolecular Science and Engineering at UCSB, guided me through experimental preparations and analyses.

Awards (1)

Competition history

  • CSEF 2007 Earth & Planetary Sciences · Entry J0707

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