GROUP NO: 3 RATING

NAME: ALLAS, MARVIN LUCKY D. DATE PERFORMED: 02 – 04 – 2020

YEAR AND SECTION: BSCE 2A DATE SUBMITTED: 02 – 17 – 2020

EXPERIMENT NO. 1
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF CEMENT
(ASTM C188-78 DENSITY OF HYDRAULIC CEMENT)
OBJECTIVE:
TO DETERMINE THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF CEMENT SAMPLE USING THE LE
CHATELIER’S FLASK.
SCOPED OF THE TEST:
THIS EXPERIMENT MAINLY FOCUSES ON THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE CEMENT
SAMPLE.
THEORY:
SPECIFIC GRAVITY IS THE RATIO OF THE DENSITY OF A SUBSTANCE TO THE DENSITY OF A
STANDARD, USUALLY WATER FOR A LIQUID OR SOLID, AND AIR FOR A GAS. SINCE CEMENT
WILL HAVE A CHEMICAL REACTION WITH WATER, KEROSENE WILL BE USED FOR THIS
EXPERIMENT. IT IS ALSO CALLED AS A RELATIVE DENSITY.

APPARATUS AND MATERIALS:

 LE CHATELIER’S FLASK W/ COVER

 ANCHOR WEIGHTS
 THERMOMETER
 FUNNEL
 KEROSENE
 ANALYTICAL BALANCE
 CEMENT

TEST PROCEDURES:
1. PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BEFORE THE TESTING
PROCEDURE.
1.1 WASH THE LE CHATELIER’S FLASK USING KEROSENE.
1.2 DO NOT USE WATER IN CLEANING THE FLASK, FOR WATER MOLECULES
CAN AFFECT THE RESULTING SPECIFIC GRAVITY.
2. AFTER THE PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES, FILL THE FLASK WITH KEROSENE
USING A FUNNEL UP TO THE MARK ABOVE THE 1 cc MARK.
3. PLACE THE ANCHOR WEIGHTS INTO THE NECK OF THE FLASK. SLOWLY PUT IT
THROUGH A DIAGONAL MOTION.
 4. PLACE THE FLASK IN A CONSTANT TEMPERATURE (20 ± 0.1 ºC) WATER BATH
AND IMMERSED FOR NOT LESS THAN 40 MINUTES.
5. WHILE THE FLASK IS IN THE WATER BATH PROCESS. PREPARE A 64 g CEMENT
SAMPLE USING AN ANALYTICAL BALANCE.
6. AFTER THE FIRST WATER BATH, READ AND RECORD THE INITIAL HEIGHT OF
THE KEROSENE, THIS VALUE WILL BE YOUR INITIAL READING ( Ri ¿. MAKE SURE
TO READ THE INITIAL VALUE ACCURATELY BY PRACTICING EYE LEVEL LOWER
MINISCUS MEASUREMENTS.
7. SLOWLY INTRODUCE THE 64 g CEMENT SAMPLE INTO THE KEROSENE BY THE
USE OF A FUNNEL. MAKE SURE THAT ALL CEMENT SAMPLE WILL FALL INTO
THE KEROSENE. AVOID MAKING THE CEMENT ADHERED OR STUCKED IN THE
NECK OF THE FLASK.
8. PLACE THE STOPPER ON THE FLASK. REMOVE THE WEIGHTS AND SLOWLY
SHAKE THE FLASK IN A CIRCULAR MOTION TO REMOVE AIR BUBBLES.
9. MAKE SURE THAT THERE WILL BE NO AIR BUBBLES IN THE FLASK. PLACE THE
ANCHOR WEIGHTS AGAIN AND INTRODUCE THE FLASK INTO THE WATER BATH
FOR ANOTHER 40 MINUTES WITH THE SAME TEMPERATURE RANGE (20 ± 0.1
ºC).
10. REMOVE THE FLASK FROM THE WATER BATH. READ THE LOWER MINISCUS
AND RECORD THE FINAL HEIGHT OF THE KEROSENE IN THE FLASK. THIS WILL
BE YOUR FINAL READING ( R f ¿ . THE FINAL READING SHOULD BE ON THE
RANGE BETWEEN 18 TO 24 cc.
11. CALCULATE THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF CEMENT USING THE FORMULA GIVEN.
DATA SHEET:

TRIAL MASS OF CEMENT ( M C ¿ INITIAL READING( Ri ¿ FINAL READING ( R f ¿

1 64 g 1 cc 22.4 cc

CALCULATIONS AND RESULTS:

MC
SpecificGravity=
Rf −Ri

64 g
SpecificGravity=
22.4 cc−1cc

SpecificGravity=2.99 g/cc

FIGURES AND DIAGRAMS:

DISCUSSION/ OBSERVATION/ ANALYSIS:
THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY IS THE RATIO OF THE DENSITY OF A SUBSTANCE TO THE
DENSITY OF ANOTHER STANDARD. IT IS USED FOR THE DESIGN AND CONTROL OF
CONCRETE MIXTURES.EVERY MATERIAL HAS SOID PARTICLES AND PORES WHICH
MAY POSSESS WATER IN IT. THIS WATER PARTICLES MAY AFFECT THE MOISTURE
CONTENT OF THE CEMENT RESULTING TO A DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITY. A
NOMINAL MIX DESIGN HAVE A SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF 3.15 g/cc WHICH MAY
GRADUALLY CHANGE DUE TO NUMEROUS ENVIRONMENTAL AND WEATHER
CONDITIONS. THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY TELLS US THE MATERIAL’S RELEVANCE
WORKABILITY AND STRENGTH TO BONDING. IF THE CEMENT HAS ALREADY MORE
MOISTURE IN IT THEN ITS STRENGTH ABILITY WILL BE AFFECTED AS WELL. FOR
EXAMPLE, A CEMENT WITH 3.19 g/cc SPECIFIC GRAVITY TELLS US THAT IT IS NOT
PROPERLY FINED THUS IT MAY HAVE MORE MOISTURE CONTENT THAN THE
OTHERS.
CONCLUSION:
AS FOR THE CONCLUSION, OUR GROUP CALCULATED THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE
CEMENT SAMPLE TO BE 2.99 g/cc. THE IMPORTANCE OF CALCULATING THE SPECIFIC
GRAVITY IS TO OBSERVE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE SAMPLE IN WATER YET SINCE THE
HYDRAULIC CEMENT WILL CHEMICALLY REACT TO WATER, WE DECIDED TO USE
KEROSENE RESULTING TO A MORE RELIABLE AND ACCURATE VALUES. THE
CALCULATED SPECIFIC GRAVITY IS RELATIVELY NEAR AND IN FACT SATISFYING THE
ASTM STANDARDS.