What is concrete made of

Concrete is and has been for thousands of years, a very popular building material. Made up of just a few basic ingredients, concrete is the most widely used man-made material on the planet. Humans use more concrete than all other building materials combined.

Not exactly. This is called the Rule—though proportions may vary depending on the type of cement and other factors. Cement serves as the glue that keeps everything else together.

Upon completion, the cement is ready to form part of a concrete mix. The process of making strong, durable concrete begins with correct proportioning. Conversely, a mix that contains too much space will be more likely to crack. Once the proportions have been finalised the and ingredients combined, the mixture will begin to harden through a chemical reaction known as hydration.

This process helps to eliminate any flaws within the concrete such as air pockets. Following this, the concrete can then be floated and trowelled depending on the specific requirements of the batch. Test your knowledge.

What are you wondering? Wonder Words fine coarse binds foundation inexpensive widespread resistant aggregates construction Take the Wonder Word Challenge. Join the Discussion. Related Wonders for You to Explore Match its definition: having large grains or pieces, or a rough surface.

Word Match Congratulations! Share results. Play Again Quit. Next Question. Not Quite! See your results. Share Results. Retake The Quiz. Be the first to know! Share with the World Tell everybody about Wonderopolis and its wonders. Share Wonderopolis. Add widget. Concrete prices - considerations about the cost of concrete. What is Concrete? Time: What is concrete made of? Portland cement, aggregate, sand, etc. Portland Cement - The cement and water form a paste that coats the aggregate and sand in the mix.

The paste hardens and binds the aggregates and sand together. Water - Water is needed to chemically react with the cement hydration and too provide workability with the concrete. Aggregates - Sand is the fine aggregate. Gravel or crushed stone is the coarse aggregate in most mixes. The concrete mix is workable. It can be placed and consolidated properly by yourself or your workmen.

Desired qualities of the hardened concrete are met: for example, resistance to freezing and thawing and deicing chemicals, watertightness low permeability , wear resistance, and strength. Know what you are trying to achieve with the concrete. Since the quality depends mainly on the water to cement ratio, the water requirement should be minimized to reduce the cement requirement and thus reduce the cost.

Accelerating admixture- accelerators are added to concrete to reduce setting time of the concrete and to accelerate early strength. The amount of reduction in setting time varies depending on the amount of accelerator used see your ready mix supplier and describe your application.