Cubic Packing Porosity
The shape and arrangement of soil particles help
Rhombohedral Packing
Cubic Packing with Smaller Grains
Filling the Void Spaces
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.
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?
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.