[Ter]

Hi my group and I are currently investigating how the softness of clay changes with varying lengths of time submerged in water. We were doing alright, we are just stuck at the chemical explanation. I thought this was a hydration process, and that water molecules come in between the clay particles, leading to clay swelling, but I am not sure and I think my interpretation is too simplistic. I've looked on the web and it is complicated, I do not understand more than half of the material, the only thing I got was that, there are SiO4 and AlO2 molecules in clay. As to why clay softens as the length of time it reamains submerged in water increases..please help me out!

Thank you!

[billnotgatez]

Looking at WIKI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay
There seems to be several types of clay

The WIKI on clay typically used in ceramics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaolinite
states

however, in ceramics applications the formula is typically written in terms of oxides, thus the formula for kaolinite is Al2O3·2SiO2·2H2O

Where the dots in the formula have special meaning and the word hydrate has special meaning plus notice also the importance given to the structure of the molecule.

So I am thinking your your explanation needs to be rethought

Maybe along the lines of physical rather than chemical