Common materials used to manufacture cement include limestone, shells, clay, and iron ore.
There are three main types of cement: Portland cement: This is “traditional” cement. It dries quickly, is adhesive, and can be mixed to make concrete. Portland cement blends: Portland blends may be made with fly ash, pozzolan, or gypsum. It tends to be easier to use on its own than regular Portland cement. Hydraulic cement: Made with alite, belite, celite, and brownmillerite, this stuff hardens super fast and is mostly waterproof.
When you look at a bridge, patio, sidewalk, or dam, you’re looking at concrete. You might occasionally see handymen use cement for smaller jobs where they need to seal or glue something, but it’s never used for larger projects. A building made entirely of cement would crumble to pieces quickly. Concrete buildings can last hundreds of years, though! Picture the difference between milk and ice cream. Ice cream can’t exist without milk, but you’d never put whipped cream on some 2% and serve it as dessert!
You typically use Portland cement to make concrete.
There are 16 different variations of concrete, but normal concrete, plain concrete, and lightweight concrete are the most common. Basically, it boils down to the ratio of cement, water, and stone.
