Homework test 3

Which of the following is a true statement about a water molecule?

It has a positive and a negative side

Capillarity in soils

involves both adhesion and cohesion

Two soil samples, A & B, at different soil moisture levels are placed in contact with each other. Water will more likely move from soil A to soil B if their water potentials, expressed in kPa, are

A=-30, B=-40

Which of the following expressions in kPa is most apt to characterize the gravitational potential of a clay loam surface soil?

+5

The osmotic potential would likely be highest insoles of which of the following horizons?

duripan

Which of the following means of estimating soil water levels gives a direct measurement of the water content?

gravimetric determinations

The matrix potential of soil water is

not influenced appreciably by the force of gravity

Which of the following best characterizes the field capacity of a soil?

water content of a soil with water potential of about -10 kPa

Unsaturated water flow

occurs on soils that are at field capacity

In which of the following situations would you expect downward movement of soil water through the profile to be most rapid?

uniformly textured sandy loam profile

In which of the following soil moisture potentials (expressed as kPa) is soil water held most tightly:

-3100

In which of the following soil moisture potentials (expressed kPa) is the soil waters' energy the lowest:

-3100

In which of the following "forms" of water are pesticides, excess plant nutrients, and waste chemicals most apt to move through soils?

gravitational

How high will a column of water rise in a capillary with a diameter of 1 cm?

0.3 cm

How high will a column of water rise in a capillary with a diameter of 0.5 cm?

0.6 cm

A soil with a pH of 5.0 is

10 times more acidic than a soil with a pH of 6.0

In a soil with a pH of 6, the hydrogen ion activity of the soil solution increases 100 fold. What is the pH of that soil?

4

Your want to decrease the hydrogen ion activity in your soil. What amendment should you add?

elemental sulfur

You want to change the pH of your soil from a pH of 5.5 to a pH of 6.5. What amendment should you add?

lime

In the lab, you mix 10 grams of a soil with 10 ml of distilled water. After 15 Minutes you measure the concentration of hydrogen ions and hydroxyl ions. The pH is 6.0. What is the concentration of H+ and OH- ions?

H+ = 10^-8
OH- = 10^-6

The smallest particles of lime would be those that passed through a ________ mesh sieve.

80

The burning of lime drives off

carbon dioxide

Which of the following sources of water have the shortest average residence time?

coulds

The evapotranspiration from a pine forest was found to be 50 cm during a growing season. If the evaporation from the soil surface during this period of time was 5 cm, what is the level of loss from leaf surfaces?

45 cm

Which of the following will increase the evaporation from the soil

none of the above

Groundwater

is a major source of water for irrigation in the US

In the vadose zone, which component of total soil water potential would be most influential?

matric