DISCUSSION

Cement is considered as one of the most important material in construction.

It serves as an adhesion material for a concrete mixture. In this experiment, the
fineness of cement is to be determined. Fineness refers to the measure of the size
of particles of cement. Knowing the fineness of the cement, it implies that more
fineness means more particles are present. This improves the reaction rate in the
mixture that will result in faster gain of strength.
In order to determine the fineness of the cement, the sieve method was used.
First, a sample of cement weighing 100g was placed on the #200 sieve. The lumps
in the sample were breakdown using the fingers to avoid damaging the sieve. The
sample was sieve by the group members alternately with the total of 15 minutes.
The residue left on the sieve was weighed using the digital balance. With the weight
of the residue, the fineness of the sample cement may now be computed.
Based from the data gathered in the experiment, it is determined that it is
93.15% for the first trial and 85.8% for the second trial so the average fineness of
cement for the experiment is 89.475%. Considering that the fineness of cement
should not be less than 78% according to ASTM, the sample cement has passed the
requirements. It is important to know the fineness of cement knowing that its rate
of hydration depends on this and also for a rapid development of strength of the
concrete mixture.
It is also evident that the test results on each trial were not that precise.
There have been factors affecting these results. One factor is that different persons
had performed the experiment. Some members can sieve more cement than the
others and considering that the time limit in performing it is the same in each trial.
Another thing is that for the second trial it seems that other members did not apply
much force in sieving the cement thus more residue are left in the second trial.
CONCLUSION
After the experiment was performed, its objective to determine the fineness
of cement by sieve method was achieved. All the necessary data were gathered
that include the weight of the sample cement and the weight of the residue left on
the sieve. Using the formula for determining its fineness, it is known that the sample
cement is suitable to be used for construction as it meets the standards set by
ASTM.
I also conclude that it is important to know any method of determining the
fineness of cement. It is to assure the quality of the cement bought from the
manufacturers. Considering heavy load bearing structures like bridges, it is
necessary to know whether the cement that will be used in the concrete could
provide the required strength to ensure the safety of those that will be using such

structures. One should not just rely only on the information given by the
manufacturers.