CEBU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY

Name: ______________________________ Date Performed: ________________

Program & Year: ______________________ Date Due: ____________________
Group: _________

CE420
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING
Laboratory Experiment No.3
STRENGTH TEST OF CEMENT

OBJECTIVES
Assessment of the quality of a cement product by its strength

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Evaluation of the quality of a product to use in the construction

APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT
Cement (different brands)
Water
1 set – stove
Plastic containers with and without cover
Foot ruler or measuring stick
1 L capacity container

INTRODUCTION
Cement is one of the important components (or ingredients) of a concrete mix.
The strength of the concrete mix is dependent on the quality of the materials
being mixed into it, like sand, gravel, cement and water. All ingredients should be
of good quality.

PROCEDURE
1. Mix 500 g of cement with the percentage of water required for normal
consistency following the procedure of mixing cement paste.
 2. Place the paste in a thinly oiled plastic or glass container and shake until it is
level with the diameter of the container with ½ inch thickness.

3. Cover and stand to harden for 24 hours.

4. After it hardened, remove the sample from the container and place it into a pot
filled with water with the plane surface of the sample on top.

5. The cake should rest on a grill so that it will not touch the pot’s surface when
heated.

6. The water is brought to a boil for 15 minutes and left boiling for 2 hours. See to
it that the specimen is always fully submerged in water while boiling.

7. The test should be repeated with cement that has been exposed for at least 24
hours.

8. After boiling remove from heat and let cool.

9. Try to break the hardened cement with the bare hands. A good cement will not
break.

RESULTS, DATA AND CALCULATIONS

REMARKS
Group Brand
Unexposed Exposed
1
2
3
4
5
6

1. Which brand is of good quality?

2. Which brand is of poor quality?

3. If you are the quality Engineer , which brand would you recommend?
Why?

4. What are the different types of cement?

5. Name the different brands of cement available in the Philippines.