1. A. Cement, water, coarse aggregates, fine aggregates air.

B. Evaluate strength requirements

Determine the water-cement ratio required
Evaluate coarse aggregate requirements: maximum aggregates size
quantity of the coarse aggregates
2. The hydration process is an exothermic process. It involves the emission of lots of heat from the
mix. The heats evaporates the water needed for mixing. This results in dehydration of the mix.
Optimum amount of water is required for the cement mix to gain proper strength. Therefore,
more water is added to the cement simultaneously to maintain the consistency of the mix.
3. The cement-water ratio is one of the crucial factor for deciding strength of concrete.
Superplasticizer reduces the water-cement ratio which increases the strength of mortar. It also
reduces the bleeding in mortar, fine cracks and shrinkage.
Mortar cubes made from batch 2 will have higher compressive strength. The use of
superplasticizer increases the compressive strength of the mix. Therefore, the compressive
strength of the batch 2 is greater.
4. The air entrainement admixtures are used in cold climates. These admixtures create small
bubbles in the concrete and they give extra space in the concrete mix. When the temperature in
the mix drops, the water in the mix crystalizes and increases in volume.
This can prevent concrete from failing due to expansion. If air entrainers are not used, this
expansion causes increase in pressure within concrete and hence formation of cracks.
5. A. Calculate water-cement ratio for the case without water reducer:
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 446
= = 0.55
𝐶𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 815
Calculate water-cement ratio for case 1:
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 446
= = 0.55
𝐶𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 815
Calculate water-cement ratio for case 2:
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 355
= = 0.44
𝐶𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 815
Calculate water-cement ratio for case 3:
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 402
= = 0.55
𝐶𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 734

B. Workability of the concrete increases if the water reducer is added to the mix without
changing any other contents. By referring to all the 3 cases, this is observed in case 1. The
amount of cement content and water content are constant. Workability of the mix increased
because of adding the water reducer.