The natural water content of a series of soil samples taken from the subgrade of a new forest road is to be determined in the laboratory. the samples were sealed in waterproof containers when they were obtained. they were taken to the lab, placed in small water content "tins" and "weighed" on the lab balance [data table below]. the samples were then dried in an oven [104 °c for 24 hours] and reweighed.

sample number 0+52 1+38 2+75 3+62
mass of water content tin, gm 1.47 1.49 1.46 1.47
mass of moist sample plus tin, gm 112.56 98.17 78.56 135.42
mass of dry sample plus tin, gm 91.33 80.48 63.28 113.07

determine the water content of each sample.