Calculate percent retained on a sieve from the retained and total dry mass, or the cumulative percent retained and passing for a full sieve analysis.

Enter the mass on one sieve, or the cumulative mass down to it for cumulative percent retained.

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Percent Retained on a Sieve Formula

The following example problem outlines the steps and information needed to calculate the percent (by mass) retained on a sieve.

WRS = WS / DM × 100

Variables:

  • WRS is the percent of the total sample mass retained on the sieve (%)
  • WS is the mass of sample material retained on the sieve (g) (or the cumulative mass retained up to that sieve)
  • DM is the total dry mass of the sample used for sieving (g) (often the original dry mass before any washing step, if applicable)

To calculate percent retained on a sieve, divide the mass of material retained by the total dry sample mass used for the test, then multiply by 100.

How to Calculate Percent Retained on a Sieve?

The following steps outline how to calculate the percent retained on a sieve.

  1. First, determine the mass of sample material retained on the sieve (g) (or the cumulative retained mass up to that sieve).
  2. Next, determine the total dry mass of the sample used for sieving (g) (often the original dry mass before any washing step, if applicable).
  3. Next, gather the formula from above = WRS = WS / DM * 100.
  4. Finally, calculate the percent retained on the sieve.
  5. After inserting the variables and calculating the result, check your answer with the calculator above.

Example Problem : 

Use the following variables as an example problem to test your knowledge.

mass of sample material retained on the sieve (g) = 5

total dry sample mass used for sieving (g) = 7

WRS = WS / DM * 100 = (5 / 7) * 100 ≈ 71.4286%