“Homemade cement” experiment
How to make cement at home
It’s easy to make the simplest type of cement yourself. In this experiment, we’ll prepare a mixture which you can use to make a little house, for example for a dog.
Safety precautions
Wear a protective mask, gloves and glasses, and work in a well-ventilated room.
Warning! Only under adults supervision.
Reagents and equipment:
- building lime (calcium oxide, 100 g);
- sand (300 g);
- water (100-150 ml);
- deep container for mixing;
- trowel;
- bricks.
Step-by-step instructions
Mix the building lime with water. Gradually add sand and stir thoroughly. We get a simple cement mixture. Apply it to bricks and leave for a week. The bricks are stuck together!
Processes description
In the reaction of calcium oxide with water, calcium hydroxide forms.
СаО + Н₂О = Са(ОН)₂
In air, calcium hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide with the formation of durable calcium carbonate, which envelops and sticks the sand particles together
Са(ОН)₂ + СО₂ = СаСО₃ + Н₂О