The sum of the masses retained on the sieves should be within 0.3 percent of the mass after washing.

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In sieve analysis, the important idea is mass balance: the total weight of material you obtain after washing and drying (including what’s retained on each sieve and what collects in the pan) should match the oven-dried mass of the original sample, within a small allowed error. That tolerance is defined with respect to the original sample mass, not the mass after washing, and standard practice uses only a tiny percentage as the limit (often around one-half percent, though the exact value is defined by the standard). So stating that the sum should be within 0.3 percent of the mass after washing isn’t the correct rule. If the balance drifts beyond the standard tolerance, it indicates some loss or gain during handling, and the results won’t accurately reflect the granulometry.