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) On the other hand, when a granular material starts in a very loose state it may continuously compact instead of dilating under shear. A sample of a material is called dilative if its volume increases with increasing shear and contractive if the volume decreases with increasing shear. Dilatancy is a common feature of the soils and sands. Its effect can be seen when the wet sand around the foot of a person walking on beach appears to dry up. The deformation caused by the foot expands the sand under it and the water in the sand moves to fill the