Moisture Relations of Soils in Centrifugal Force Fields

Studies of the physical properties of mineral soils, in both field, and laboratory, involve at least three basic factors: the mechanical composition, character of the colloid, and soil moisture. The mechanical composition of a soil is obtained by a mechanical analysis which is a quantitative expression of the relative amounts of sand, silt, clay, and perhaps colloid, of which the soil is composed. The character of the colloid is perhaps best determined by complete chemical analysis, but its character is also revealed by physical tests such as heat of wetting, water vapor absorption, and volume of floc. Numerous types of physical measurements have been made which deal with soil moisture and many terms have been coined to express the relationships found. This investigation concerns the moisture equilibrium in soils when subjected to high gravitational potentials.