What are Some Cement Products?

The word "cement" derives from the Latin, caementum, which means rough stone. The word concrete derives from the Latin, concretus, which means grown together, or hardened. The two are often confused but are different. Cement is a mineral product primarily made up of limestone heated to the point of melting, although other mineral elements such as shale or clay may account for some amount of the composition. Once cooled into a powder, it is typically mixed with water to undergo a chemical reaction that results in hardening. If the powder is mixed with water and other ingredients such as stone or gravel, it is technically called concrete. Therefore, to be accurate, cement is an ingredient of concrete, though the terms are often used as identical in meaning. In fact, the cement ingredient is what accounts for most of the binding properties of concrete. Natural cement products refers to the melted limestone already described, however, the most common type of cement products used today is ...  more