SOME TESTS OF THE DIFFUSION THEORY, AND LAWS OF CAPILLARY FLOW, IN SOILS

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Abstract
Expts. on the capillary movement of water from free water into dry soil in horizontal tubes show that the diffusion theory of soil moisture movement is not applicable. It is found that the applicable laws of movement are Q = At1/2 + a and x = Bt1/2 + b where Q is the quantity of water imbibed by the soil, and x the distance of advance of the wet-dry front, in time t, and A, a, B and b are constants, a and b generally being negligible. The rate of advance of the wet-dry front is[image] The constants A and/or B should be measures of soil structure, erodibility, etc. A complete theory of capillary movement, to include the effect of gravity g, should reduce to the above equations when g is set equal to zero.

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