Liquid Limit Test

1. Add a container from the apparatus menu.
2. Add a soil sample and water to the container from the apparatus menu. Assume the soil was previously sieved, air-dried, and then pulverized.
3. Click on the soil to thoroughly mix the soil with the water to make it into a uniform paste.
4. Add a casagrande cup from the apparatus menu. The cup is assumed to have been appropriately adjusted such that the cup's drop point is exactly 10 mm above the base.
5. Click on the container to move the soil to the casagrande apparatus. It is made into a soil pat by squeezing and spreading to form an approximately horizontal surface.
6. Click on the casagrande apparatus to cut a clean straight groove down the center of the soil pat using a grooving tool.
7. Click on the casagrande apparatus to rotate the cup at a rate of approximately two drops per second and count the number of drops/rotations it takes to make the two halves of the soil pat come into contact at the bottom of the groove along a distance of 13 mm (1/2 in).
8. Take a sample, using the spatula, from edge to edge of the soil pat. The sample should include the soil on both sides of where the groove came into contact. Finally determine the water content of this sample. Use the following link to learn more about water content determination.
9. Observe the values obtained for different trials in the table. Each trial uses the soil from the previous trial but with added water to increase the water content.
10. Also observe the corresponding graph obtained and derive the liquid limit value by taking the water content at 25 drops.
11. Click the restart button to perform the experiment again.

Plastic Limit Test

1. Add a container from the apparatus menu.
2. Add a soil sample and water to the container from the apparatus menu. Assume the soil was previously sieved, air-dried, and then pulverized.
3. Click on the soil to thoroughly mix the soil with the water to make it into a uniform paste.
4. Add a glass plate from the apparatus menu. This is where we will be alternately rolling, gathering together, kneading and re-rolling the soil.
5. Click on the container to move the soil to the glass plate. It is made into a spread.
6. Click on the soil to roll it up into a thread of uniform diameter. The rolling is done between the palm or fingers and the glass plate.
7. Click on the soil to roll it into a thread of roughly 3 mm diameter. Generally, when the diameter of the thread reaches the correct diameter, it is broken into several pieces. Then it is kneaded, reformed into an ellipsoidal mass and re-rolled. This alternate rolling, gathering together, kneading and re-rolling continues until the thread crumbles under the pressure required for rolling and can no longer be rolled into a 3 mm diameter thread. We thus obtain a broken thread as visible in the simulation.
8. The broken pieces/portions of soil are gathered and their water content is determined. Use the following link to learn more about water content determination.
9. Observe the values obtained for different trials in the table. The plastic limit is obtained by taking the average over the various trials' water contents.
10. Click the restart button to perform the experiment again.