Steel (Material) Concrete (Material)

Reinforced Concrete (Structure)

Compressive strength of concrete is a property of material. In order to

find the compressive strength of concrete in a reinforced concrete structure,
plain concrete core (without steel) is taken from the structure. Reinforced
concrete is not a material, it is structure made with two materials (concrete
and steel). Hence there is no question of comparing strength of concrete with
reinforced concrete.