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2.1 Physical Characteristics
Activity – Bulk Density
Supplies
•
Piece of pipe roughly 3 inches long, with
a uniform diameter
•
A mallet or mini sledge hammer
•
A 2 inch x 4 inch piece of sturdy board
•
A shovel or trowel for digging out the pipe
•
A ziplock plastic bag to put
your sample in
•
A scale (A kitchen scale will do.)
•
Optional: Pruners to remove vegetation from
the soil surface
Instructions
Volume of the pipe = volume of the soil you sampled
Measure the height and inside diameter of the pipe. By calculating the volume of your pipe, you
will know exactly the volume of the soil sample you are about to collect. With this in mind, aim to
collect an amount of soil that exactly fills the pipe.
You will need to convert inches
3
to centimeters
3
:
Pipe volume
in inches
3
x
x
x 3.14 =
Pipe
diameter
(inches) ÷ 2
Pipe
diameter
(inches) ÷ 2
Pipe length
(inches)
Pipe volume
in inches
3
x
x
x 3.14 =
________ in
________ in
________ in
Pipe volume
in centimeters
3
Pipe volume
in inches
3
x 16.39 =
x 16.39 =
________ cm
3
________ in
3
Length
Diameter
Pipe
Activity
continued
on next
page