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    Porosity Lab

    Uploaded by

    benzo2k
    This document provides background information and instructions for an activity exploring porosity and permeability in gravel, sand, and silt. Students will gather data by observing how easily water passes through each sediment and how much water is stored. They will then analyze the data to draw conclusions about how permeability and porosity relate to sediment grain size. Specifically, they will find that permeability increases as grain size increases, and porosity decreases as grain size decreases.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Porosity Lab

    Uploaded by

    benzo2k
    143 views3 pages
    This document provides background information and instructions for an activity exploring porosity and permeability in gravel, sand, and silt. Students will gather data by observing how easily water passes through each sediment and how much water is stored. They will then analyze the data to draw conclusions about how permeability and porosity relate to sediment grain size. Specifically, they will find that permeability increases as grain size increases, and porosity decreases as grain size decreases.

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    Porosity lab

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    This document provides background information and instructions for an activity exploring porosity and permeability in gravel, sand, and silt. Students will gather data by observing how easily water passes through each sediment and how much water is stored. They will then analyze the data to draw conclusions about how permeability and porosity relate to sediment grain size. Specifically, they will find that permeability increases as grain size increases, and porosity decreases as grain size decreases.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    143 views3 pages

    Porosity Lab

    Uploaded by

    benzo2k
    This document provides background information and instructions for an activity exploring porosity and permeability in gravel, sand, and silt. Students will gather data by observing how easily water passes through each sediment and how much water is stored. They will then analyze the data to draw conclusions about how permeability and porosity relate to sediment grain size. Specifically, they will find that permeability increases as grain size increases, and porosity decreases as grain size decreases.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    At a glance
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    The document discusses how permeability and porosity of sediments like gravel, sand, and silt relate to their grain size. Larger grains lead to higher permeability and lower porosity, while smaller grains have lower permeability and higher porosity.

    Permeability decreases as the size of sediment grains decreases - gravel has the highest permeability since its grains are the largest, while silt has the lowest permeability. Finer grains clog the spaces between coarser grains.

    Gravel is the least porous sediment since its large grains leave little space between them, while silt is the most porous due to its very small grain size allowing for more space. Sand has intermediate porosity.

    Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________

    Student Exploration: Porosity

    Vocabulary: aquifer, gravel, permeability, porosity, sand, saturated, sediment, silt, surface
    water

    Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)


    Two students are given cubic boxes, measuring 10 cm on a side. Robert puts a single glass
    marble with a diameter of 10 cm in the box. Susan puts 1,000 1-cm glass marbles in her box.

    1. Whose box has more empty space? Explain. _____________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    2. Whose box will be heavier? Explain. ____________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    Gizmo Warm-up
    Some rocks and sediments have a lot of empty space in
    them. This allows liquids such as water and oil to pass through
    and be stored in them. Permeability describes how easily
    liquid passes through a material, while porosity describes
    how much liquid can be stored in the material. These
    properties are explored in the Porosity Gizmo.

    Turn on the Macroscopic view of Gravel, Sand, and Silt.


    Gravel consists mostly of rock fragments greater than 2.0 mm
    in diameter. Sand consists of grains that are between 0.0625
    and 2.0 mm in diameter. Silt consists of grains that are
    between 0.0039 and 0.0625 mm in diameter.

    1. Which sediment do you think will allow water to pass through most easily? ______________

    2. Which sediment do you think could hold the most water? ______________

    3. An aquifer is a rock layer that stores and allows the flow of groundwater. Compared to other
    types of rock layers, how permeable and porous would an aquifer be?

    _________________________________________________________________________

    2019
    Get the Gizmo ready:
    Activity A:
     If necessary, click Reset below each container of
    Permeability
    sediment.

    Question: How does permeability relate to the grain size of sediment?

    1. Observe: Above the gravel container, click ON. Observe water moving through the gravel.

    A. Does the water pass easily through the gravel? _____________________________

    B. Repeat the same procedure with the sand and silt. What do you notice?

    __________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________

    2. Gather data: Surface water pools on top of the sediments. Surface water can indicate that
    sediments are saturated (full of water) or that the sediments are not very permeable.

    Click Reset below each container. Release about 100 mL of water into the gravel beaker,
    and press OFF. Record the approximate amount of surface water you see just after you
    press OFF. Repeat the same procedure for the sand and silt.

    Gravel: ______________ Sand: ______________ Silt: ______________

    3. Analyze: Based on your data, which is the most permeable sediment? _________________

    4. Infer: How do you know the surface water is not there because the sediment is saturated?

    _________________________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    5. Draw conclusions: How is permeability related to the size of the grains that make up the

    sediment? ________________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    6. Apply: Suppose you were digging a well into saturated sediments. Why is the sediment’s
    permeability an important factor in deciding where to put your well?

    _________________________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    2019
    Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:
    Porosity  Click Reset below each container of sediment.

    Question: How does porosity relate to the grain size of sediment?

    1. Predict: Which sediment do you think has can store the most water? __________________

    Explain your choice: ________________________________________________________

    _________________________________________________________________________

    2. Gather data: Release 400 mL of water into each sediment. Wait until each sediment is fully
    saturated with water. Record the amount of surface water in the first row of the table below.

    Sediment: Gravel Sand Silt


    Surface water (in mL):
    Water in sediment (in mL):
    Sediment volume (in mL): 400 mL 400 mL 400 mL
    Porosity (%):

    3. Calculate: Find the amount of water that is stored within each sediment by subtracting the
    surface water volume from the original water volume (400 mL). Add this data to the table.

    4. Calculate: To calculate the porosity percentage, divide the volume of water in the sediment
    by the sediment volume, and then multiply by 100. Add this data to the last row of the table.

    5. Analyze: Which is the most porous sediment? _____________ The least? _____________

    6. Draw conclusions: Compare the porosity number to the grain size of each sediment.

    A. Does grain size determine the porosity of a sediment type? ____________________

    Explain: ____________________________________________________________

    ___________________________________________________________________

    B. Explain what you think controls a material’s porosity. _________________________

    ___________________________________________________________________

    ___________________________________________________________________

    2019

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