In the context of bearing capacity, what does the term 'factor of safety' refer

In the context of bearing capacity, what does the term 'factor of safety' refer to?

In the context of bearing capacity, what does the term 'factor of safety' refer to?

Step 1: Understand that 'bearing capacity' refers to how much load the ground can support without failing.
Step 2: Know that 'failure' means the ground cannot hold the load anymore and may collapse.
Step 3: Learn that 'ultimate load' is the maximum load the ground can handle before failure occurs.
Step 4: Recognize that 'allowable load' is the safe limit of load that can be applied to the ground without risking failure.
Step 5: The 'factor of safety' is a number that shows how much stronger the ground is compared to the load we want to apply.
Step 6: The formula for the factor of safety is: Factor of Safety = Ultimate Load / Allowable Load.
Step 7: A higher factor of safety means more safety against failure.

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