Question

ACTIVITY
Prepare an experiment to check the percolation rate kf water jn different iinds of soil (sandy, loamy and clayey). note down your observation and conclude it.​

Answer 1

Required experiment:-

Aim: To check the percolation rate of water in the different kinds of soil.

Materials required: Mineral water plastic bottle, knife, stopwatch, pen/pencil, notepad.

Procedure:

1. Look for a place which has a good amount of soil.
2. Take a Mineral water plastic bottle.
3. Cut off the top and bottom of the bottle with a knife, so that you are left with a hollow plastic pipe.
4. Now place the pipe into the soil about 2 cm deep in the ground.
5. Measure 200 ml of water and start pouring it into the pipe.
6. Start the stopwatch immediately when you start pouring water into the pipe and note down the time.
7. Note the time again when all the water percolates into the soil.

Be careful not to let the water spill over or run down on the outside of the pipe while pouring. You can calculate the rate of percolation by using the formula:

$\underline{\boxed{\sf{Percolation\:rate= \bf{\dfrac{Amount\:of\:water\:(ml)}{Percolation\:time\:(min)}}}}}$

Calculation:

Suppose 200 ml of water takes 20 minutes to percolate through the soil sample taken by you, the the rate of percolation is calculated as,

$\sf{Rate\:of\:percolation=\dfrac{200\:ml}{20\:min}=\bf{10\:ml/min}}$

Observation:

You will notice that sandy soil absorbs water, but drains it quickly and retains very little amount of water. Clayey soil, on the other hand, holds water for a very long time and does not drain well. In the loamy soil, water is uniformly distributed. It also drains well.

Conclusion: Percolation rate of water is highest in sandy soil and lowest in clayey soil wheras loamy soil has moderate percolation rate of water.

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