What are three products made of rocks in a building?

Answer 1

I think this question is part of the geology sports and academic program for cub scouts. This program is really a wonderful way for boys to learn about many varied things. On to the question/answer. Most all homes have a foundation made of concrete. Concrete is one of our most versitile construction materials. VERY STRONG IN COMPRESSION- it take a lot of force/weight to crush and break concrete when the force applied is stictly a downward crushing force. ZERO STRENGTH IN TENSION- build a non-reinforced (no steel bars) 2"X4" concrete beam. Compare 2X4 concrete beam and a piece of 2X4 lumber. span an 8 foot distance and the wood wins every time. But don't worry if you add the right amount of steel rods to a piece of concrete it can make a very strong steel beam. Concrete is made of 4 major ingredients Cement Corse Aggregate(bigger rocks) Fine Aggregate (pebbles and sand) Water So you see concrete has big and little rocks in the mix. Cement the stuff that holds it all together is made from rock too. Portland Cement as we use today was invented/perfected in Portland, England in 1824. The Romans and folks before them used something close in structures that still stand. Portland Cement is made from limestone, calcium and other materials. Limestone is ground up and mixed and then heated to thousands of degrees F. Cement balls called klinker is then ground finely to make the cement you see in bags. Gypsum another mineral is added to cement because if it was not there the cement would harden from the moisture in the air. You should laugh at adults when they say "Cement floor" , "Cement sidewalk" and "cement bridge". If you were to make a chocolate chip cookie. You would use flour and other ingredients. Well the flour is just like cement it is only one ingredient. If you fell on a cement sidewalk you would have dust in you mouth because that's what cement is, a powder. Only when mixed with water and other things does it become that material which we use so much in our daily lives. I mentioned gypsum before, Well it is used in another product. Sheet Rock, dry wall, wall board, whatever. The sheetrock used in interior construction is made of gypsum. Gypsum is a very soft rock, it is formed into sheetrock. Steel- nails, corner bead, truss connectors, steel beams, joist blocking hardware, concrete re-bar----steel is all around us. It starts out as iron ore and is made into steel and iron. Copper- Copper wire,Copper pipe Copper occurs both naturally and as an ore. Paints- many colorings for paints start as ground up rock powder. PVC Pipe- plastic PVC uses calcium as a filler material to save material costs. Calcium is mineral. Marble is a relatively expensive marterial. Marble can be used as tile. Marble can also be used as a counter top. Granite can also be used the same way. RAN---Upstate NY