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Cubic Packing Porosity
The shape and arrangement of soil particles help
determine porosity. Porosity or pore space is the amount of air space or void space between soil particles. Infiltration, groundwater movement, and storage occur in these void spaces. The porosity of soil or geologic materials is the ratio of the volume of pore space in a unit of material to the total volume of material.
Rhombohedral Packing A mathematical equation of porosity looks like
this: Porosity or n=Vvoid / Vtotal. Porosity is often expressed as a percentage of rock or soil void of material, so multiply the answer by 100.
The arrangement or packing of the soil particles
plays a role in porosity. In the diagrams to the left, the particles stacked directly on top of each other (cubic packing) have higher porosity than the particles in a pyramid shape sitting on top of two other particles (rhombohedral packing). Can you see the difference in pore space? Cubic Packing with Smaller Grains Filling the Void Spaces What could happen when smaller particles are mixed with larger particles? As the diagram shows, the smaller particles could fill in the void spaces between the larger particles, which would result in a lower porosity.
Not all particles are spheres or round. Particles
exist in many shapes and these shapes pack in a variety of ways that may increase or decrease porosity. Generally, a mixture of grain sizes and shapes, results in lower porosity.
One important point to remember is that the
diameter size of the grain does not affect porosity. Remember, porosity is a ratio of void space to total volume. A room full of ping pong balls would have the same porosity as a room full of basketballs, as long as the packing or arrangement are similar.
