Allow excess eluent to drip into the beaker. Carefully remove the tape and place the chromatogram on a piece of absorbent paper in the fume hood. Leave the paper under the fume hood, where it will dry completely. If necessary, use a heat lamp in the fume hood to dry the chromatogram if using the heat lamp, - to dry. Laboratory report 2: Liquid limit, plastic limit and soil plasticity index. The reported plasticity index of the soil. V. Analysis and Discussion Atterberg limits are a basic measure of the nature of a fine-grained soil. Depending on the water content of the soil, it can be in four states: solid, semi-solid, plastic and liquid.