What does pcf stand for in density measurements?

• A. Pounds per cubic foot
• B. Pounds per cubic fraction
• C. Pounds per coal foot
• D. People per cubic foot

Answer: (A)

Density is the amount of mass contained in a given volume, and in US customary units used for FDOT earthwork, that density is expressed as pounds per cubic foot. This means you’re describing how many pounds of soil weigh in one cubic foot of space. The unit pounds per cubic foot comes from dividing weight (pounds) by volume (cubic feet), giving a measure of how densely the material is packed. The other options aren’t standard density terms—they don’t correspond to weight per volume for soils (for example, “people per cubic foot” is not a material density). So, pounds per cubic foot is the correct interpretation of pcf.