Soil texture know the percentages of sand, clay, and silt in your soil sample, the triangle can be used to determine which of the twelve soil types you have. To do this, find your percentage of sand along the bottom of the triangle. Then follow the slanted line up to the left until you reach your percentage of clay. Where that point is will tell you what soil type you have. For example, if your soil is 70 percent sand and 10 percent clay then your soil is classified as a sandy loam. The same method can be used starting on any
Dilatancy (granular material) Dilatancy (granular material) Dilatancy is the volume change observed in granular materials when they are subjected to shear deformations. This effect was first described scientifically by Osborne Reynolds in 1885/1886 and is also known as Reynolds dilatancy. Unlike most other solid materials, the tendency of a compacted dense granular material is to dilate (expand in volume) as it is sheared. This occurs because the grains in a compacted state are interlocking and therefore do not have the freedom to move around one another. When stressed, a lever motion occurs between neighboring grains, which produces a bulk expansion of the material.