Activity 4

Porosity and sorting

This activity is to show you how sorting effects porosity.  Make a hypothesis  stating whether  well or poorly sorted sediment will have the greatest porosity. Print the table.  

Instructions

1. The jars each contain 500ml of sediment and the measuring cylinder has 250ml of water in it at the start.  2. Choose a poorly sorted sediment. 3. Pour the water carefully into the jar of sediment until the water is level with the top of the sediment. If the top of the sediment is uneven fill the jar of sediment up until there is an equal amount of sediment above the water level as there is water without sediment below the water level.  If you add too much water the animation allows you to have another attempt.  4. Record the volume of water left in the measuring cylinder and calculate the volume that is now in the sediment. 5. Calculate the porosity.