Basic Civil Engineering Questions and Answers – Ingredients of Cement This set of Basic Civil Engineering Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQs) focuses on “Ingredients of Cement”.1. What is the most dominant constituent of cement? a) Silica b) Lime c) Magnesia d) Alumina View Answer Answer: b Explanation: Cement contains about 60-65% of lime.

2. Deficiency of lime in cement leads to: a) Unsound cement b) Disintegration of cement c) Quick setting of cement d) Expansion of cement View Answer

Answer: c Explanation: Presence of lime in sufficient quantity is necessary to form silicates and aluminates of calcium. Excess lime leads to expansion, disintegration and unsoundness of cement.3. What effect does calcium sulphate have on cement? a) Retards setting action b) Acts as flux c) Imparts colour d) Reduces strength View Answer Answer: a Explanation: Calcium sulphate is found in cement in the form of gypsum.

Its slows down the setting time of cement. Note: Join free Sanfoundry classes at or 4. Which of the following adds a quick-setting property to cement? a) Magnesium oxide b) Silicon dioxide c) Iron oxide d) Aluminium oxide View Answer Answer: d Explanation: Aluminium Oxide or Alumina is present in small quantity in cement and it helps in a quick-setting property.5.

Which of the following imparts greenish grey colour to cement? a) Calcium silicate b) Calcium aluminate c) Calcium aluminate ferrite d) Calcium carbonate View Answer Answer: c Explanation: Calcium silicate and calcium aluminate are pure white minerals.

• Calcium aluminate ferrite is brown in colour, but due to absorption of light by magnesium, present as an impurity, greenish grey colour is imparted to cement.6.
• Excess of Alkali in cement results in: a) Dry cement paste b) Efflorescence c) Less plasticity d) Unsound cement View Answer Answer: b Explanation: Efflorescence is the formation of powdery substance on the surface of masonry or concrete work.

Alkalis usually get carried away by flue gases during heating. In excess quantity, they result in alkali-aggregate reaction.7. What function does iron oxide perform in cement? a) Increases strength b) Makes cement sound c) Increases setting time d) Acts as flux View Answer Answer: d Explanation: Iron oxide acts as a flux, in addition to being responsible for imparting colour to cement.

1. If the temperature goes higher, then iron oxide reacts with aluminium and calcium and results in the formation of calcium aluminate ferrite.8.
2. How many major ingredients are present in the composition of cement? a) 8 b) 5 c) 10 d) 6 View Answer Answer: a Explanation: There are 8 main ingredients present in cement.

They are lime, silica, alumina, magnesia, iron oxide, calcium sulphate, sulphur trioxide and alkalis.9. Sulphur in cement is present in what amount? a) 0.5 – 6 g b) 1 – 2.5% c) 0.5 – 6% d) 1 – 2.5g View Answer Answer: b Explanation: The presence of ingredients is expressed in percentage.

1. Iron oxide is present in 0.5-6% and sulphur 1-2.5%.10.
2. An excess of magnesium oxide after 5% is harmful to cement.
3. A) True b) False View Answer Answer: a Explanation: Excess of magnesium causes problems in structures built with this cement.
4. It causes cracks in both mortar and concrete after they harden.

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What is calcium sulfate cement?

Calcium sulfate is one of the mineralogical components of cement and is used to regulate the setting behavior. It can be present in cement in different phases, such as anhydride (CaSO 4 ), hemihydrate (CaSO 4. ½H 2 O), or gypsum (CaSO 4 ·2H 2 O), or varying combinations of these phases.

What are the uses of calcium sulphate?

Calcium sulfate is a calcium salt and an inorganic calcium salt. A calcium salt that is used for a variety of purposes including: building materials, as a desiccant, in dentistry as an impression material, cast, or die, and in medicine for immobilizing casts and as a tablet excipient.

What is the significance of calcium sulfate for the construction industry?

Application – Calcium sulfate offers a range of texture-altering properties in various industries. In food production, it is an approved food additive listed under the code E516. It is used as a thickener, stabilizer, desiccant, anti-binder, and chelating agent among others.

• Moreover, it regulates the pH to obtain the desired acidity of the final product and allows pH control during beer brewing.
• In the bakery sector, calcium sulfate is used to fortify the texture of bread, cookies, cakes, and confectionery items.
• It acts as an anticaking agent, preventing lumping and agglomeration.

It also strengthens the dough by modifying starch, improves yeast leavening, enhances texture, and supports the structure of the product. In China, calcium sulfate has long been used as a thickening agent and coagulant in the production of tofu from soy milk to obtain a tender and brittle structure.

Other benefits of calcium sulfate include reduction of sodium levels and extension of shelf life in canned vegetables, jarred jellies, frozen foods, and beverages. In agriculture, the product is used as an ingredient of fertilizers and as a nutritional supplement to provide a higher calcium content in animal feed.

Calcium sulfate is widely used in the construction industry as a building material for walls, stucco, blocks, panels, and mortars. In medicine, it is applied as a tablet excipient or component of plaster casts, and in dentistry as an impression material.

Is calcium sulfate the same as gypsum?

Gypsum: an old product with a new use Gypsum is calcium sulfate (CaSO 4 ). Refined gypsum in the anhydrite form (no water) is 29.4 percent calcium (Ca) and 23.5 percent sulfur (S). Usually, gypsum has water associated in the molecular structure (CaSO 4 ·2H2O) and is approximately 23.3 percent Ca and 18.5 percent S (plaster of paris).

• Gypsum fertilizer usually has other impurities so grades are approximately 22 percent Ca and 17 percent S.
• Gypsum is sparingly soluble (the reason wallboard gets soft but does not immediately dissolve when it gets wet, at least if only damp occasionally).
• Gypsum is the neutral salt of a strong acid and strong base and does not increase or decrease acidity.

Dissolving gypsum in water or soil results in the following reaction: CaSO 4 ·2H 2 O = Ca 2 + + SO 4 2- + 2H 2 O. It adds calcium ions (Ca 2 +) and sulfate ions (SO 4 2-), but does not add or take away hydrogen ions (H+). Therefore, it does not act as a liming or acidifying material.

What is the use of calcium in cement?

🕑 Reading time: 1 minute Calcium chlorides is used as accelerator in hydration process of cement, leading to quick set of concrete and to get high initial strength concrete. Maximum permissible limit of addition of calcium chloride is 2% in flake form.

What does calcium oxide do in cement?

Calcium oxide is used as an expanding agent to overcome contraction as cement slurry sets. Cement systems selection was based on their performances indicated by expansion tendency, consistency behaviour, lime reactivity at 60ºC and atmospheric pressure, and autoclave-cured cement paste properties.

What is the common name for calcium sulphate?

Assorted References –

calcium compounds

In calcium: Compounds Calcium sulfate, CaSO 4, is a naturally occurring calcium salt. It is commonly known in its dihydrate form, CaSO 4 ∙2H 2 O, a white or colourless powder called gypsum. As uncalcined gypsum, the sulfate is employed as a soil conditioner. Calcined gypsum is used in making tile, wallboard, lath,

What does calcium sulphate react with?

Hazards – Reactivity Alerts none Air & Water Reactions No rapid reaction with air. No rapid reaction with water. Fire Hazard No information available. Health Hazard Excerpt from NIOSH Pocket Guide for Calcium sulfate : Exposure Routes: Inhalation, skin and/or eye contact Symptoms: Irritation eyes, skin, upper respiratory system; conjunctivitis; rhinitis, epistaxis (nosebleed) Target Organs: Eyes, skin, respiratory system (NIOSH, 2022) Reactivity Profile CALCIUM SULFATE is non-combustible. Decomposes to give toxic oxides of sulfur, but only at very high temperature (>1500°C). Generally of low reactivity but may act as an oxidizing agent: incompatible with diazomethane, aluminum, and phosphorus. Certain forms of calcium sulfate react with water; others do not. INSOLUBLE ANHYDRITE or dead-burned gypsum is made by the dehydration of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum) at high (> 600°C) temperature. At room temperature, insoluble anhydrite dissolves very slowly to the extent of 0.24 g per 100 g of water and does not absorb moisture from the air. SOLUBLE ANHYDRITE, which is obtained by heating calcium sulfate dihydrate at a temperature below 300°C, has a high affinity for water and is used as a desiccant. Soluble anhydrite absorbs water to form calcium sulfate hemihydrate (Plaster of Paris). Belongs to the Following Reactive Group(s) Potentially Incompatible Absorbents No information available.

Is calcium sulphate an acid or base?

Acidic calcium sulphate (ACS) is a very acidic (pH 1.0-1.5) blend of calcium hydroxide, sulphuric acid and calcium sulphate.

Is calcium used in cement industry?

1.1. Background – Estimates vary, but the cement industry currently produces at least 2.8 billion tonnes of cement per annum, accounting for ~7% of global anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, Cement production is expected to increase yearly to more than 4 billion tonnes per annum by 2040. In 2009, the International Energy Agency (IEA) proposed the use of carbon capture and storage to reduce these emissions, Since the IEA’s proposal to reduce the carbon emissions of the cement industry, new technologies have been developed to either capture and utilise post-combustion CO 2 or convert it into useful products. Some of these technologies are discussed in Section 1.2, Calcium carbonate, in the form of limestone, has seen an increase in its use as a cement additive to reduce the carbon footprint of cement clinker, which is due to the relatively low CO 2 output of the process in comparison to Portland cement manufacture, Most codes of practice allow a maximum of 5% ground limestone, containing >70% calcium carbonate, to be added to create Portland limestone cement (PLC) blends as distinct from Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Ground limestone has also been demonstrated to increase workability without impacting strength if used in quantities of less than or equal to the maximum allowable 5% in accredited PLC blends, We present the first results of tests on the use of carbon-negative Precipitated Calcium Carbonate Admixture (PCC-A), a carbon CAPture and CONversion (CAPCON) product of the Carbon Capture Machine (CCM) (see http://www.ccmuk.com for more information), to reduce the carbon footprint of blended cements. Unlike ground limestone, which is carbon positive, PCC-A from the CCM CAPCON process is carbon negative and sequesters between 100 and 350 kgCO 2 per tonne of PCC-A produced, depending on the process inputs. Our proposal for a more sustainable future, where cement production is decarbonised at source, is illustrated in Figure 1, Proposal for the production of a new generation of enhanced performance, low carbon Precipitated Calcium Carbonate Admixture (PCC-A) blended Portland cements can be achieved in situ using the Carbon Capture Machine (CCM). The role of calcium carbonate in blended Portland cements spans chemical and physical properties.

• The chemical role is through the formation of (hemi- and mono-) carboaluminate phases during hydration,
• Physically, it is predominantly an inert filler,
• Unpublished data suggests that the control of grain size and the morphology of the PCC-A in the CCM’s CAPCON process can be beneficially used to produce blended Portland cements that do not compromise strength, durability or passivation while offering performance benefits that match or surpass OPC.

The test methods reported in this paper were used to evaluate, for the first time, the effects of adding carbon-negative PCC-A to OPC, potentially leading to the development of new classes of high performance, low carbon Portland cement blends. The methods were used to determine strength, rheology, passivation potential and the reduction in embodied CO 2 content.

Why is calcium carbonate used in cement?

Calcium Carbonate in the Concrete Industry – Calcium carbonate is found in three principal rock types: chalk, limestone, and dolomite (including the metamorphic rock known as dolomitic marble). Limestone and lime are the principal calcium carbonate derivatives used in the concrete industry.

1. Calcium carbonate helps accelerate the cure rate of concrete and increases the concrete’s slump rate.
2. Slump rate is the consistency of concrete before it sets.
3. The higher the slump rate, the higher the concrete’s workability, facilitating a long enough work time so that it can level itself and be more easily pushed, molded, and smoothed out like a laying a floor.

In certain applications, such as forming a curb or plastering a pool, a lower slump rate is desirable so that the concrete will set more quickly. In these cases, calcium carbonate would not be added to the concrete mixture. Green strength describes a cast product’s ability to withstand handling, mold ejection, and machining before it is completely cured.

• Calcium carbonate helps increase concrete’s green strength.
• It also improves concrete’s particle packing, provides concrete with a spacer effect, and promotes self-compacting properties of concrete.
• In addition, calcium carbonate reduces porosity and air void in concrete which improves pumpability and adds to smoother surfaces.

Calcium carbonate can be used as a filler in Portland cement, reducing the product’s high cost.

What does calcium sulfate do to pH?

The pH of Calcium Sulfate in Water By Serm Murmson Calcium sulfate is only slightly soluble in water. When it does dissolve, the ions are spectator ions. This means that they do not interact with water molecules in a way that significantly changes the pH.

The pH of a saturated solution of calcium sulfate is 7.7, close to that of pure water. The sulfate ion is a weak conjugate base of the hydrogen sulfate acid. Therefore, the sulfate ion does not decrease the pH of a solution. Instead, because it is a weak base, the sulfate ion can accept protons in a solution.

However, this does not happen to a great degree. Consequently, calcium sulfate does not have a significant effect on pH. : The pH of Calcium Sulfate in Water

Is calcium sulfate harmful to humans?

Acute exposure: Acute exposure to calcium sulfate can cause redness and itching of the eyes, runny nose, sore throat, and irritation of the respiratory tract and skin.

Is calcium sulphate and plaster of Paris same?

Q. Plaster of Paris is known as calcium sulphate hemihydrate because two formula units of CaSO4 share one molecule of H2O.

Is Epsom salt and gypsum same?

Gypsum is calcium sulphate and Epsom salts are Magnesium sulphate. The former is almost insoluble in water and makes permanent hardness in certain water supplies, which cannot be removed by boiling.

Does calcium weaken concrete?

Effects on the Mechanical Properties of Concrete – The primary mechanical impacts of calcium chloride include a gain in compression strength, especially at lower temperatures. It accelerates the hardening rate of concrete. The strength gain in the first three days may vary from 30% to 100%. However, concrete strength can decline if the amount is higher than accepted standards.

Does calcium make concrete set faster?

Why use Calcium Chloride? – Calcium chloride (CaCl2), has the ability to accelerate cement hydration and reduce set time by as much as two thirds. Research has shown that a 2% addition rate has an equivalent cure strength at 50°F as plain concrete at 70°F.

• Improves workabilityregardless of mixture design, less water is required to produce a given slump when calcium chloride is used.
• Improves strength of air-entrained concretecalcium chloride compensates for the reduction in strength with a higher cement factor concrete.
• Reduces bleedingthis is due to the early stiffening produced by acceleration and allows earlier final finishing.

These advantages combine to produce better quality concrete faster. Concrete acceleration with calcium chloride greatly facilitates completing jobs as quickly and economically as possible.

Does calcium make concrete dry faster?

Calcium chloride is a preferred additive for accelerating cement hydration and reducing set time for concrete applications, particularly in colder weather. It can enable concrete to be produced faster and allow jobs to be completed as quickly and economically as possible.

Calcium chloride has the ability to accelerate cement hydration and reduce set time by as much as two-thirds. Research has shown that concrete produced with 2% calcium chloride exhibits equivalent cure strength at 50°F as plain concrete at 70°F. Set times below 50°F will be longer, but the accelerated cure rate will still be greater than that of plain concrete.

Calcium chloride can also improve mix workability, improve strength of air-entrained concrete, and reduce bleeding by enabling earlier final finishing. Anhydrous Calcium Chloride 94-97% Mini-Pellets DOWFLAKE™ Xtra 83-87% Calcium Chloride Flakes LIQUIDOW™ Technical Grade Calcium Chloride Solution

What happens if you put too much of calcium chloride in concrete?

Damage – Concrete mixed with calcium chloride has more of a tendency toward future damage than concrete without this chemical. The chloride can cause the mix to shrink as it cures, creating cracks in the surface. There is also an increased risk of scaling in concrete made with chloride accelerators, especially in disproportionate mixes or concrete exposed to deicers.

Is calcium chloride harmful to cement?

3. What’s Best For Concrete – Most deicers do not chemically attack properly placed and cured concrete. Rather, damage to improperly constructed concrete is actually the result of the expansion pressure caused by the repeated freezing of trapped water.

As the number of freeze/thaw cycles increases, it can contribute to damage. Independent testing of commonly used deicers has shown that calcium chloride is the least harmful to concrete (excluding Sodium Acetate and Calcium Magnesium Acetate ) after 500 freeze/thaw cycles. Incidentally, liquid calcium chloride is widely used in concrete to decrease the set time of concrete in the winter.

To minimize the impact on concrete, ice and snow should always be removed promptly and any excess deicer brushed away after sidewalks have been cleared.

What does quicklime do in cement?

Workability and water retention – Incorporating an appropriate proportion of hydrated lime into a cement-based mixture improves plasticity and workability, making the product easier to handle on the trowel. Hydrated lime also increases water retention which helps to improve the contact and bond with the substrate.

What is the common name of calcium sulphate?

Plaster of Paris is the common name for calcium sulphate with water of crystallization.It is obtained by heating gypsum at a very low temperature.It is used for preparing masks,statues,toys,etc.Q.

Is calcium sulphate the same as plaster of Paris?

Why is Calcium Sulphate hemihydrate called plaster of Paris? Answer Verified Hint: Calcium Sulphate hemihydrate is a white- yellowish chemical substance which is present in finely divided powder and it is an odourless powder. Its chemical formula is $CaS,\dfrac O$,

It has many uses such as, it is used for making sculpture, cast and moulds. It is also known as Gypsum plaster. Complete answer: So, as we know that, Calcium Sulphate hemihydrate has the chemical formula $CaS,\dfrac O$, Calcium Sulphate hemihydrate is prepared heating Calcium Sulphate dihydrate which is also known as Gypsum.

And the temperature required for this reaction is $373K$ to $400K$,The reaction for the manufacture process is given below:-Calcium Sulphate hemihydrate is called plaster of Paris (can be written as POP) because as we have seen in the above reaction, it is formed by heating Gypsum at the temperature $373K$ to $400K$,The name plaster of Paris is derived from the large deposits of gypsum in the Montmartre hill in Paris.

Additional information: Note:

There are many uses of plaster of Paris such as:1) It can be used in the decoration of buildings and monuments.2) It is used to make the wall paintings.3) It is used to rejoin the broken bones or fracture so it is used as plaster.4) It can be used to make the replicas of oral tissues and teeth.5) It is used in making statues and surgical instruments.So, we have concluded that the Calcium Sulphate hemihydrate is called Plaster of Paris because it is formed by heating Gypsum at the temperature $373K$ to $400K$ as we have seen in the preparation reaction.

What is calcium Sulfoaluminate cement?

10.4.2 Calcium sulfoaluminate cements – Calcium sulfoaluminate cements are well-known alternatives to OPC. They have essentially been developed in China in the 1970s. Designed by the China Building Materials Academy (CBMA), they were intended for the manufacturing of self-stress concrete pipes due to their swelling properties.

• Sulfoaluminate cements contain the phases belite (C2S), yeelimite or tetracalcium trialuminate sulfate (C 4 A 3 S ¯ ), and gypsum (C S ¯ H 2 ) as their main constituents ( Chatterjee, 2002; Glasser and Zhang, 2001; Wang and Glasser, 1996 ).
• When CSA cement hydrates, ettringite (C 6 A S ¯ 3 H 32 ) is formed according to the following reactions ( Odler, 2000 ): In the absence of calcium hydroxide: C 4 A 3 S ¯ + 2 C S ¯ H 2 + 36 H → C 6 A S ¯ 3 H 32 + 2 AH 3 In presence of calcium hydroxide: C 4 A 3 S ¯ + 8 C S ¯ H 2 + 6 CH + 74 H → 3 C 6 A S ¯ 3 H 32 It is known that the microstructure of ettringite is strongly dependent on the presence of lime ( Mehta, 1973 ).

Ettringite produced by the reaction in Eq. is expansive and this property is exploited in special applications such as shrinkage-resistant and self-stressing cement ( Su et al., 1992 ). Ettringite formed in the absence of lime by the reaction in Eq. is non-expansive and generates high early strength in cementitious systems ( Beretka et al.

, 1997 ). These classical calcium sulfoaluminate cements based on yeelimite (C 4 A 3 S ¯ ) with lesser amounts of C 2 S and C 4 AF, should give lower raw materials-derived CO 2 emissions than OPC. In fact, considering that the thermal energy is mainly used for calcining limestone, the reduction of limestone content in the kiln feed creates a similar decrease in the energy needed for calcination.

So the composition of CSA permits a production process that might be considered to be more ‘environmentally friendly’, than that of OPC, because: • the quantity of limestone in the raw materials of the kiln is reduced, hence both fuel derived and raw materials-derived CO 2 emissions are reduced; • the maximum synthesis temperatures are at least 100 °C lower than those required (1,400–1,500 °C) for OPC; • the clinker is easier to grind (i.e., less energy is required for grinding) ( Glasser and Zhang, 2001 ); • industrial waste and secondary products can be reused more easily as raw materials ( Ambroise and Pera, 2008 ; Zhang et al.

, 1999 ). CSA cements are thus receiving increasing attention ( Gartner, 2004 ). Compared to alite, which releases 0.578 g CO 2 per g of the cementing phase when made from calcite and silica, calcium sulfoaluminate clinker releases only 0.216 g CO 2 per g of cementing phase when made from limestone, alumina and anhydrite.

However, its production has remained stable at around 1.2–1.3 millions tonnes since 2004 in China ( Diao, 2008 ). One of the main reasons is that more aluminium is needed in the raw material to produce CSA, which makes it more expensive to produce than OPC, and thus has limited it to various ‘niche’ applications which make use of special properties such as rapid hardening or self-stressing (depending on the cement formulation).

Recently, Lafarge developed an interesting approach ( Li and Gartner, 2006 ). The clinker proposed by Lafarge and registered as Aerther® is richer in belite than classical CSA, which allows the use of less expensive raw materials. It consists of a combination of various known chemical reactions of cementitious systems, but overall leads to very different reactivity from Portland cement.

Publically available information on this subject can be found in Gartner (2011), Sharp et al. (2010), Wang (2010) and Morin et al. (2011), In the first day, strength development comes from formation of ettringite (C 6 A S ¯ 3 H 32 ) and amorphous aluminium hydroxide (AH 3 ) from the reaction of yeelimite (C 4 A 3 S ¯ ) with anhydrite (C S ¯ ) in the presence of water.

• Once the anhydrite is exhausted, further reaction of yeelimite yields monosulfoaluminate (C 4 A S ¯ H 12 ) and AH 3,
• Interestingly, belite seems to react with AH 3 to yield strätlingite (C 2 A S ¯ H 8 ), which occurs until about 14 days.
• Until this point in time, no C-S-H or CH are formed, so that the main hydrates are very different from Portland cement systems.

After this, further reaction of belite does yield C-S-H and CH. It is claimed that despite these various changes in solid phase assemblage, no detrimental dimensional changes take place. Moreover, the testing of this cement is now the subject of an EU project that will include full-scale production trials ( www.aether-cement.eu/ ).

What is calcium aluminate cement used for?

What is calcium-aluminate cement? – Q, What is calcium-aluminate cement and where is it used? A, Calcium-aluminate cements are hydraulic cements obtained by pulverizing a solidified melt or clinker that consists predominantly of hydraulic calcium aluminates formed from proportioned mixtures of aluminous and calcareous materials.

They are generally divided into three groups based on the alumina and iron oxide contents (Low Purity, Intermediate Purity and High Purity). The cements of higher alumina content are suitable for higher-temperature applications. Calcium-aluminate cements are primarily used for high heat refractory applications.

Other uses include moderate acid-resistant applications, high-early-strength and quick-setting mixtures, and as part of the expansive component in some shrinkage-compensating cements. These cements are typically designed to gain strength much faster than ordinary portland cements and predominately consist of calcium aluminate that can produce large amounts of heat during the first 24 hours.