This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams.

In this episode you will learn:

- The fundamental effective stress equation is: Effective Stress (σ') = Total Stress (σ) - Pore Water Pressure (u).

- Total stress represents the weight of all materials (soil and water) above a point, calculated by summing the unit weight times the thickness for each layer.

- Pore water pressure is the pressure from the column of water above a point and is only non-zero below the water table.

- A soil's strength and consolidation behavior are governed by effective stress, which is the stress transferred between soil particles, not by total stress.

- A common exam trap is capillary rise, where water is drawn above the water table, creating negative pore pressure (suction) and increasing the effective stress.

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