Method to compare water content values determined on the basis of different oven-drying temperatures

The water content, w, is defined in geotechnical literature as the ratio of the mass of the pore water, m_w, to the mass of the dry solid particles, m_s, given as a percentage. The pore water is the bulk water in the voids between the solid particles. The oven-drying method (BSI, 1990a; ASTM, 1998) is the preferred method for laboratory determination of the water content, calculated as the ratio of the reduction in the total mass of the test specimen to its equilibrium oven-dried mass m_D, given as a percentage:...