Question

What do you understand by water absorption rate?
It took 60 minutes for 360 mL of water to percolate through a soil sample. What is the rate of percolation for the soil sample? [5 MARKS]

Answer 1

Definition: 2 Marks
Formula: 1 Mark
Solution: 2 Marks

Water absorption rate of the soil is defined as the capacity of the soil to absorb water from the surrounding areas in a specific amount of time. It is also called the water retention capacity of soil.

Now the details of the soil sample is:

Amount of water = 360 mL
Time taken for this amount to percolate down the sample= 60 minutes
hence
Rate of percolation = $\frac{\text{Amount of water (mL)}}{\text{Percolation time (min)}}$ = $\frac{\text{360 mL}}{\text{60 m}}$ =6 mL/min

Ans: 6 mL/min