You are interested in estimating the CEC of a soil that one of your clients has been experiencing difficulty in obtaining adequate crop yields. You use the standard method of CEC estimation by saturating 20 grams of soil with NH4+ using neutral 1 N ammonium acetate (NH4OAc). You then extract the soil with 200 ml of KCl solution and determine that it contains 315 ppm NH4+. What is the CEC of the soil in meq/100g?

You are also interested in determining the percent base saturation (BS%) of your clients soil. From the previous example, you determining that 20 grams of the soil contained the following: Ca2+ = 140 ppm, Mg2+ = 35 ppm, and K+ = 85 ppm in 200 ml of extract. What is the BS% of this soil?

Please show all work and explain each step if possible.

answer for the first portion is 175 meq/g of soil answer to the second portion is ~80.67%