Enter the mass of material retained on an individual sieve (g) (or the cumulative mass retained up to a given sieve) and the total dry sample mass used for the test (g) into the Weight Retained in Sieve Calculator. The calculator will evaluate the percent retained (by mass) on the sieve.

Weight Retained in Sieve Calculator

Single Sieve
Gradation / Multiple Sieves

Enter any 2 values to calculate the missing variable.

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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%