9.2 - Hydraulic gradient
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Practice Questions
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What is the hydraulic gradient?
💡 Hint: Think about how water pressure changes over distance.
Define effective stress.
💡 Hint: Try to remember the formula!
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Interactive Quizzes
Quick quizzes to reinforce your learning
What does the hydraulic gradient represent?
💡 Hint: It's related to water's drive through soil.
True or False: A rise in the water table always increases effective stress.
💡 Hint: Think about how total stress and pore pressure interact.
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Challenge Problems
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A soil column has a total stress of 50 kPa at a depth below a rising water table. If the pore water pressure is calculated at that depth to be 20 kPa, what is the effective stress?
💡 Hint: Use the effective stress equation to solve.
Consider an upward water flow scenario with a hydraulic gradient approaching 1. What implications would this have on the stability of a sand layer?
💡 Hint: Think about how it impacts weight support.
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