ACTIVITY 7

Test for Fineness of Portland Cement

Using No 200 Sieve

Date Performed: March 12, 2020

Date Due: June 5, 2020
Date Submitted: June 5, 2020

Attendance and Performance

NAME OF STUDENTS PRESENT ABSENT REMARKS
1. Bruan, Kimberly C. ̷
2. Calites, Mario Jr. L. ̷
3. Calusor, Marvin C. ̷
4. Cera, Ariel S. ̷
5.
6.

Submitted by:

CALITES, MARIO JR. L.

BSCE – 2A

Submitted to:

RINA MARIE V. PEDROSA, RMP; RCE

INSTRUCTOR I
 Activity 7

Test for Fineness of Portland Cement

Using No 200 Sieve

I. Purpose: This exercise is performed to check if the cement

possesses the require fineness specified for the project. The
cement which is produced by an industry is checked for its
quality, that either it is good for certain type of
construction or it doesn’t possess that much strength. For
example, for RCC and other heavy load bearing structures such
as bridges it is essential that the cement which is being used
in the concrete should have the ability to provide the
required strength, while in the PCC structures it is not so
much critical.
II. Scope and Specification: The ability to provide strength of
a certain type of cement is checked by finding the fineness of
that cement, because the fineness of cement is responsible for
the rate of hydration and hence the rate of gain of strength
and also the rate of evolution of heat.
If the cement is fine then greater is its
cohesiveness, which is the property, required in the concrete
because it gives compactness to the concrete. Usually cement
loses 10% of its strength within one month of its
manufacturing.
The coarse particles in cement are inert. The finer
the cement the faster it will undergo hydration, thus
resulting in higher early strength and more rapid generation
of heat. The effects of higher fineness are manifested
principally during the early periods of hydration although at
later ages finer cement will give higher strength. Coarse
cement tends to give poor concrete workability and cause
excessive bleeding. Bleeding is manifested by water rising to
the top of the concrete due to settlement of solids before the
initial set. Greater fineness improves not only the strength
but also water tightness, workability, appearance, and
durability of concrete. The test for fineness by the No. 200
sieve consists of passing 50 grams of cement through the No.
200 sieve and weighing the residue.
In the turbid meter test, also for fineness
determination, light is made to pass through a suspension of
 cement in water-free kerosene in a glass tank. From the
intensity of the light passing through the suspension the
fineness is calculated in terms of specific surface per gram
of cement.

III. Materials, Apparatus and Equipment

1. No. 200 sieve with pan and cover
2. Bristle brush
3. Balance and weights

IV. Procedure
1. Place 50-gram sample on the No. 200 sieve with
pan attached.
2. Start sieving and continue until the residue looks
clean. This will take about 5 minutes.
3. Place cover on sieve and remove pan. Tap gently
side of sieve to dislodge dust adhering to the sieve
and brush the underside of sieve
4. Continue sieving until no more than 0.05 g.
passes through in 1 minute of continuous sieving.
5. Brush thoroughly both sides of sieve. Weigh residue.

Calculation:
(Those retained on the No 200 sieve (75 microns) will never
hydrate completely)

Weight of residue
% Fineness = x 100
Weight of original sample
V. Discussion and Analysis of Test data:
a) computation
Weight of Original Sample: 60 grams
Weight of Residue: 57 grams

% Fineness = (57/60) x 100

= 95%

b) Interpretation and analysis of Test Results

Based on the performed activity, the percent of

fineness is 95% which shows that the sample we’ve used
from the Portland Cement Type 1 has a high percentage
of fineness. This means that the cement sample has
greater surface area of hydration and has faster rate
of strength gain.

Reference:
1.
2.
3.
 Drawing:

Source: https://civiconcepts.com/2019/05/fineness-test-of-cement-procedure-and-importance/

Documentation: Getting the sample of

Portland Cement Type 1 to be
tested.
Weighing the sample needed
for the test.

Putting the sample to the

No. 200 sieve.
Sieving the sample.

Brushing the sieve

thoroughly to get ever last
bit of cement.

Weight of the residue.