In this experiment, to find the organic matter percenage, we needed to burn the soil that had come from the drying oven at high temperatures to convert as much of it possible into carbon dioxide and water for 30 minutes. The soil needed to be dry enough to measure and calculate the mass lost during the burning of the soil. The burning is shown here:
It is not necessary to measure the mass of the soil alone because the mass of the crucible is constant and its mass was essentially subtracted out when the percentage of organic matter was calculated. Using the following collected data:
Crucible with organic matter: 83.8g
Weight before burning crucible with organic matter: 74.4g
Empty crucible: 63.3g
It calculated that the total percent of organic matter was 11.2%, using the original container mass (83.8 grams) minus the weight after burning (74.4 grams) to equal 9.4, which was then divided by the riginal weight and multiplied by 100 to find the percent, or (83.8 g - 74.4 g) = (9.4 / 83.8 g) x 100 = 11.2%.
It is very important to have organic materials in soil because it serves as a reservoir of nutrients and water, aids in reducing compaction and surface crusting, and increasing water infiltration, allowing for more successful plant growth and prevention of erosion.
- Kasia
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