Calculation of water holding capacity of leaves straw, bajara husk, sawdust.

I had assigned to work on water holding capacity.

Material collection: I had collected the dry leaves from Vigyan Ashram campus. Then I collected the bajara husk from the backyard of workshop. Then I went in the Pabal village for getting the sawdust and collected it from the Vakhar.

Pulvarizer: From this machine I had made the small form of leaves straw and bajara husk.

Procedure:

  • Weighing all the three samples.
  • Put the samples in three different sieves.
  • Then Add the water upto saturation point.
  • Then take the weight, through this weight exclude the weight of sieve.
  • After excluding the weight then subtract the initial weight then we can get the weight of bound water.

Calculation:

1) Bajara husk:

Initial weight of sample= 50 gm

weight after addition of water+sieve= 716 gm

weight after addition of water-sieve= 716-414 = 302 gm

weight of bound water= (weight after addition of water – sieve) – initial weight = 302-50 = 252 gm

Formula:

Water holding capacity = (weight of bound water / initial weight of sample) x 100

= 252/50

= 504%

2) Leaves straw:

Initial weight of sample= 50 gm

weight after addition of water+sieve= 634 gm

weight after addition of water-sieve= 634-369 = 265 gm

weight of bound water= (weight after addition of water – sieve) – initial weight = 265-50 = 215 gm

Formula:

Water holding capacity = (weight of bound water / initial weight of sample) x 100

= 215/50

= 430%

3) Sawdust:

Initial weight of sample= 50 gm

weight after addition of water+sieve= 570 gm

weight after addition of water-sieve= 570-369 = 199 gm

weight of bound water= (weight after addition of water – sieve) – initial weight = 199-50 = 149 gm

Formula:

Water holding capacity = (weight of bound water / initial weight of sample) x 100

= 149/50

= 298%

Sr. NoMaterial nameWHC (%)
1Bajara husk504
2Leaves straw430
3Sawdust298

Result: From the above readings we can conclude that the Bajara husk had the highest water holding capacity.