Life is a journey, not a destination free essay sample

Life is a journey, not a destination BY Litigate Life is a Journey, Not a destination Life cant be described by only one or two words. It is a mixture of everything. The mixture of happiness and sadness, success and failure, comfort and pain, love and hatred, relief and sorrow and struggle and giving up. Life is not perfect, but It Is beautiful. Life Is a Journey, not a destination. Everyone takes every step In a very unique way.The journey may take you down by great storms and bumpy roads but It does not tater, what matters the most Is how many times you stand up and continue. Each moment In your Journey of life, you are presented with an opportunity to react differently. You may even make the same choices over and over again because you do not know otherwise. You have the power to change things and not to walk around In a constant circle. We will write a custom essay sample on Life is a journey, not a destination or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Life is a game and the only rule is there is no mistakes, only lessons to learn. You wont always be a winner, unless it is not a game.You need to struggle to survive but to at the expense of others. Life is not all about lying down in a bed of roses. There are times in our lives where we will be wounded by the thorns of life. We will feel the pain of loss, loneliness, failure and rejection, but one thing is clear, there is peace after everything. There is a rainbow after the rain. Life is a lifetime challenge. Everyone has his burden but what counts is how you carry it. You are successful if you feel the contentment and you know in your heart that you made it.Life offers many opportunities. It is up to you to grab it or let it pass you by. Life is a beautiful struggle. You must keep the Journey going, not because of the guarantee but because of the possibility. If we were to go through life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. Give every opportunity a change, leave no room for regrets and never forget the power in struggle. Life is a Journey with so many options. A world to discover, dreams to chase. Goals to reach and people to meet.

One Machine in Cement Production Industry free essay sample

The cement packing machine is mainly used for packing cement in bags, or other fluit powdery materials bagging work. Except manual sidekick, baggs cant fall off unless the bulking load reach centain amount. The machine can stop immediately when bag happens to fall of suddenly. It can charge load without compressing air, which reduces the packer damadge caused by damaged pneumatic components. Most of the cement packer is divided into fixed and rotary. The work of running processes 1). Start the operation steps: The circular telegram starts the belt fastener start the packer start the feeding engine to insert the bag to fill installs measurement fall the bag . 2). Engine off step: Closes the feeding engine emptying the cement in the packer switch off the total power source . Entire operation and routine maintenance When the operation appears failure ,emergency stopping maintenance , cutting off power supply, , listing alerts or the specialist care. We will write a custom essay sample on One Machine in Cement Production Industry or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 6). Packer of grounding protection wants safely reliable,and regularly test ground resistance . 7). When the belt suddenly stop , they should immediately cut off the cement packer rotary power to scratch-resistant package

Tips for Writing a Sample Masters Level Essay

Tips for Writing a Sample Masters Level EssayThere are a few things that you will need to remember if you are going to write a sample Masters level essay. You can do it yourself or hire a professional to do it for you, but either way there are some things that you should keep in mind. This can help you avoid mistakes and save you time when you are done.The first thing that you should remember when you are writing a sample Masters level essay is to write about what you know. If you don't have much information to offer the other person and you feel like you are unsure of something, just put your opinion in writing and see what they think. There is nothing wrong with sharing an opinion-based facts, and the professor has no problem with that at all. In fact, most professors appreciate it and look forward to hearing the other side of the story.After you share your opinion, ask your professor a question that you may be unsure of. Sometimes the best way to figure out whether or not they agr ee with you is to talk to them first and get their reaction. Of course, you should not try to force them to agree with you, but rather ask them what their opinion is and how they feel about it. Also, you should only make sure that you have a solid topic for your essay before you start writing. You will want to make sure that you choose something that interests the professor and that you can defend with a good argument.One mistake that many students make when they are writing a sample Masters level essay is not getting enough time to write the entire essay. Just because it is a sample doesn't mean that you should take as long as you need to get your point across. It is important to understand the grade that you will receive at the end of the semester so you don't try to cram for too long. The most important thing to remember when you are trying to get your point across is that it shouldn't take more than ten minutes to finish it. When you get stuck, don't worry; you can always stop a nd look up some extra material on the Internet to help you.It is also important to remember that every aspect of your Masters level essay has to stand on its own merit. It is not something that will enhance your grade. You don't want to add the length of the essay to the weight that it will carry in the eyes of the professor. Do not try to pad your work with anything other than your facts. Make sure that you finish each paragraph with your facts. If you have to add something, you can always use a footnote to help reinforce the point that you are trying to make.One mistake that a lot of students make when they are writing a sample Masters level essay is that they don't think about the content enough. Many students get their ideas and start writing without really thinking about the content that they are putting together. This is why you should always start by brainstorming your topic. You can look through books and internet sites for ideas, but you need to put your ideas down on paper so that you can see how well you can put them together. If you fail to do this, you will be wasting your time and possibly your professor's as well.Writing a sample Masters level essay can be one of the easiest courses to complete if you follow these tips. You will want to learn about your topic and find out how the professors see it and think about it. Do not stress over this as much as you should, and you will be able to submit it quickly and easily to complete it in time for your midterm or final.

How Writing Can Make You Happier, Healthier and Emotionally Strong

â€Å"Tears are words that need to be written.† ― Paulo Coelho Writing is gut instinct communication at first. For the unpolished it’s rather rough and guttural, unsweetened. For the polished and seasoned writer, a road far less traveled, it often becomes easier to speak through the sounds of typing/scribbling than verbal conversation. In whatever manner you write, and for any reason, it is an act of necessity. Some people only write in their checkbooks, but those brief descriptions and numbers provide a mental blanket of safety every month. Others, they only write their prayers, to all manner of unforeseen forces but this uncertainty and mysticism adds flavor to what they perceive to be an otherwise mundane existence. Writing becomes the ultimate outlet of emotional baggage. Or, it can become a rather lucrative career, and through that writing becomes a great source of contentment and personal satisfaction. Let’s take a look at how writing can promote emotional stability, happiness, and a greater degree of health in your life. Writing Makes You Happier Individual The next time you’re incredibly scared or worried, stressed that life may be turning down a dark road, write out a plan for survival and redemption. Before you finish the first sentence you’ll feel better. Why? Because writing is just a bunch of mini-tasks. This word then this word. One sentence at a time you begin to take back control. You start to map out your ideas. You start writing out your asset list. You begin to craft a plan of attack! Writing makes you a happier person because there’s little else that can plausibly spawn from self-awareness. Fiction writing can allow us to experience things that provide tremendous psychological benefit. Most of the time, it’s about escape and entertainment. Being someone, or somewhere that we might not ever really get a chance to be. Non-fiction can become a way of teaching, training and helping other people. This in turn always makes us feel better, deep down in our core, to be alive. Imagine all the folks out there changing the world through modern self-publishing. Web-writing and composing for a digital crowd can be quite the experience as well, allowing us to connect with people all over the world. Being able to reach out and impact others, or just being able to make an impact on ourselves through writing is one of the reasons it has the potential to make us much happier human beings. Oh, and remember that the foundation for every major modern blockbuster movie started out as words on the page. Or, in the white. Writing Makes You Healthier Person In general, modern emerging philosophies tell is that we are what we think. Vast studies far and wide from all corners of the globe going back to when humans were first transplanted on Earth from Mars, show that happiness produces positive biological/physiological results. From head to toe, why just the very act of flexing your â€Å"smile muscles† causes your brain to release pleasant neurochemicals. For many people writing becomes a void where they deposit all the things that bog them down. As they uplift themselves, they smile more, exercise more, interact with others more and so on. One of the very first things that every serious physical trainer, or fitness trainer, prescribes to their clients is a diet journal. Through writing down their foods and exercises they learn and craft for more perspective. One of the first things that most psychologists and psychiatrists ask their patients to do is keep a life journal, or diary. It relieves stress and provides personal insight that leads to a better quality of life. Writing Makes You Emotionally Stronger Right, so as you may have already guessed this all adds to a bit more mental stability. For many fiction writers, it’s safe to explore insanity on the page, and it is in most cases. For non-fiction, the ability to be solidified in their knowledge is assuring, and inspires more confidence. Writing makes you stronger the way lyrics empower a song; the way verse molds a poem; and the way notes can embolden a speech. As writers gain experience, the tools they have at their disposal become more versatile. They’re able to express things is deeper, fulfilling and more interesting ways. In school, all of the emotionality we envelope into our studies and performance is optimized through the act of writing. From research and term papers, to our essays and test answers. The truth, nearly everyone writes in one form or another these days. As the virtual realm continues to explode, writing itself is taking on many new forms that serve many unprecedented purposes. Writing makes the human world go around, both on and offline. Whatever you can imagine it, write it, and begin it. Put words into the white!

Health and social care Essays

Health and social care Essays Health and social care Essay Health and social care Essay In this essay we will be measuring a journal article from a subject in Health and Social attention. The journal article is Evidence of resiliency in households of kids with autism from the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. I will be looking at the methods used in acquiring information ; ethical considerations of the piece of research and the value of the research to the Health an Social attention field. This article used many different methodological analysiss in order to roll up information. It is set out in phases and the first phase involved roll uping informations from 175 male parents, female parents ( including individual parents ) , and other biological health professionals of autistic kids. They used choice standards for the participants which involves the diagnosing of the child’s autism on the autistic spectrum and the age of the kid which says that they must be between 2 and 18 old ages of age. These criteria’s are utile because they help guarantee that they get a assortment of statistics from different households in order to acquire a valid decision about the resiliency in households. The age standards can give a broad scope of information and valid informations about how autism affects households when the kids are different ages. These criteria’s besides better the dependability of the research ; by guaranting that there is a bound on age it there i sn’t information about anyone older who perchance could entree grownup services. Besides by doing certain of the child’s diagnosing it would turn out to be more dependable informations because all of the kids are on the autistic spectrum. The sample of households was taken from the Autism Society of Illinois’s members, parents of kids enrolled on the Chicago Public School’s Autistic Programs, and parents of kids with autism in one Private Therapeutic Day School. The dependability of the research can be questioned in context to a world-wide position of resiliency in autistic households. This is because the consequences have been taken from one province in America, which is Illinois, and the installations that households with autistic kids have entree excessively are vary throughout America and the universe. The research is valid because inside informations have been taken about all services received by the kids, but it’s undependable because it does n’t state what kids receive what services. More item should be taken in happening out the installations accessed compared to the badness of the status and besides the income of the household to guarantee that similar services can be used by households with less money. This is a really effectual manner of roll uping consequences because it shows that these parents are actively involved in their children’s life and will be more inclined to take part in the research. The cogency of this research can be questioned because, as it shows in table 1, 63 per centum of the samples are white compared to merely 16 per centum of the sample who are African American therefore we don’t acquire the full image about households of other ethnicities. Besides because 61 per centum of the sample have an one-year income of more than $ 60,000, whilst 23 per centum earn between $ 0 and $ 40,000. The mean US family income in 2004 was $ 44,389 ( US Census Bureau, 2005 ) US Census Bureau ( 2005 ) Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf. This could impact the dependability of the consequences because there is an over representation of the upper category, which in footings of entree to installations for the autistic kid could do life easier and demo greater resiliency in the household. To better the dependability of the consequences, more research would hold to be done into the households with lower income i.e. the 1s who earn $ 0- $ 40,000 yearly. The mean income of participants was $ 80,000 per twelvemonth, which is well higher than the mean household income. 80 per centum of the kids in this survey were male, but this is improbable to hold affected the consequences because male childs are 3-4 times more likely to develop Autistic Spectrum Disorder than misss ( NHS, 2009 ) so it is possible that most of the autistic kids are boys. The NHS ( 2009 ) says that Auti stic Spectrum Disorder varies in badness from kid to child. NHS ( 2009 ) Autistic Spectrum Disorder, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism-aspergers/ . 53 per centum of the kids in the survey had moderate to severe autism, which is a just per centum in order to accomplish dependable consequences because it can demo whether or non the badness of the status effects resiliency in the household, as holding a terrible autistic status can hold a big consequence on things like communicating. Even when autistic kids can get by academically, due to jobs socializing they are likely to be victims of intimidation, ( BBC Health, 2009 ) BBC Health ( 2009 ) Autism and Asperger Syndrome, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/autism1.shtml # causes_and_risk_factors. Factors like the child’s school experiences can impact the manner they behave at place, which in bend can put more emphasis on the household and show less resiliency amongst them. The bulk of the kids in the survey demo some sort of aggressive behavior ; merely 33 per centum have none at all. Out of the consequences merely 8 per centum have frequent aggressive behavior. The steps used for the research were qualitative and gathered in depth information from the households utilizing a signifier with three inquiries, dwelling of inquiries about how autism affects the household, a description of the positive and negative effects of autism on their personal life, and a description of the kid. This is an effectual manner of achieving information on this topic because it requires a batch of item in order to acquire adequate cognition to come to a valid decision. That is why inside informations about household net incomes, instruction and position are of import because they can hold a great consequence on the family’s functionality, and the resiliency that consequences from this. In the same manner that the households description of the kid is of import to unders tand the fortunes that they have to cover with to be resilient. The first inquiry about how autism affects the household is valid as it can happen out how the households themselves see the effects of autism. The dependability of the replies can be questioned because of different household fortunes, and the manner that a household affected by autism, sees how a normal household should map. Besides because the replies are qualitative the parents may hold answered in different ways, so it is left to the analyzers to state whether or non they are relevant and to categorize them. The 2nd inquiry contains similar jobs with dependability because it could be that different people had different personal lives before they had an autistic kid, therefore the consequence of autism on their personal life has been different. This could be down to the sum of excess attending it takes to care for an autistic kid, sometimes their behaviors can be hard to cover with every bit sometimes they learn what behaviours assist them to acquire what they want ( National Autistic Society, 2010 ) , National Autistic Society ( 2010 ) How can I assist a kid with autism at my school? hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp? d=1010 A ; a=10143. or the installations that they have entree excessively in order to derive some type of reprieve. There is besides some dependability because the parents and carers would hold no ground to give deceptive replies and the bulk of the replies should be easy interpreted and analysed to come aid with the decision. 2b.Austerity refers to those actions taken by people who are living on a low income: meal cuts, parents going hungry to feed their children, and resorting to food banks as a last resort. People living below the poverty line depend on food banks because they cannot afford to feed themselves and their families. However, some individuals are too ashamed to seek the assistance of food banks and, therefore, they opt to cut the size of their meals for their budget to fit (Milligan, 2014). Just like the government cuts back on spending and increases tax rates during adverse economic conditions, people living below the poverty line need to compromise some of their basic needs. 2c.The Trussell Trust has blamed the governments welfare changes for influencing the rising number of food bank users in the UK. Thus, the government should look into the matter and determine the real cause of hunger. In addition, the Trussell Trust pointed out that the delay in benefits payment is also a contributing factor to the growing number of people using food banks (Milligan, 2014). At the same time, it also identified benefit sanctions as yet another primary cause for food insecurity in the UK (Milligan, 2014). The clergy, on the other hand, maintains that food insecurity should be made a moral issue to help families, which are suffering in silence due to shame. 3.The current social security system is failing because it has been unable to help people out of poverty and, instead, it has driven more into destitution (Cooper, Purcell, and Jackson, 2014). As a result, a majority of individuals living below the poverty line rely solely on food banks to feed themselves and their families. The food banks should not be viewed as alternatives to the failing system, but temporary solutions (Cooper, Purcell, and Jackson, 2014). Moreover, in the 21st century, a country ranked among the top ten richest in the world should not be experiencing food insecurity; thus, it a surprise that developed countries, such as the U.S. and Canada are also enduring it due to a failing social security system, low income, and unemployment. More specifically, all these factors are indicators of a flawed system that needs reforms. 4.The author of ;What the welfare cuts mean for us: The feeling of dread never goes away; is right about the welfare reforms targeting people who genuinely need help. Most of the victims are not to blame for their financial woes, especially after the author has described the situation in the case studies. The persons used in them can be viewed as victims to a failing system that has no regard for the negative implications of the welfare reforms (Gentleman, 2013). The author has proven that the system is not fair to everyone especially the disabled, who are disadvantaged the most. Task 3 Section One According to a 2005-6 statistics, there are many children in residential child care, and they are spread across the UK: Scotland (14,060), Northern Ireland (2,436), England (60,300), and Wales 4,784) (Social Care Institute for Excellence, n.d.). Even though the number of children under child care varies from country to country, approximately fifteen percent of those in the UK are under the residential child care program. Food insecurity and economic instability are directly proportional. Ideally, the hunger-stricken children suffer from poor nutrient consumption and inadequate nutrition. In the wealthy society in the UK, good food is discarded on a daily basis, while in the poor one; people go to sleep with empty stomachs. The community in the United Kingdom is, therefore, distinctively different. The government needs to chip in and identify these structural inequalities within the UK society. It should regulate household income to facilitate the availability of food for the poor. Section Two Some key legislations and rights are dedicated to protecting the welfare of children living in a children;s home. The Children Act 1989 advocates for the prioritization of a child;s needs and also acknowledges the vital importance of taking care of them (Bradshaw, 2011). Moreover, the legislation addresses the expectations and requirements when taking care of children; thus, it ensures that all their basic needs are provided. The Children Act 2004 is a reinforcement to the 1989 Act, whereby a team of qualified professionals is appointed and expected to work collaboratively in promoting the welfare of children (Bradshaw, 2011). The legislation also protects them from physical harm by their guardians and also safeguards them from physical punishment by limiting the use of reasonable punishment as a defense for causing any bodily harm to a child.;; Section Three ; Children are too young to dream of a realistic future that they would want; it is impractical to let them decide their future. ; Children are young and innocent, which makes them vulnerable, they are not responsible enough to make decisions that affect their lives since they are not experienced to understand complex matters, such as taxes and government policies as well as welfare reforms. ; Children;s needs are important because they affect their well-being and overall life. Reflection Lessons Learnt This module has brought to my attention critical global issues that are adversely affecting the developed nations. A significant number of people in developing countries might be surprised to discover that hundreds of thousands of individuals are living below the poverty line and most of them depend on food banks to sustain themselves. According to some of the sources cited in the previous tasks, the government seems not to take the food insecurity issue seriously. As a result, most people who deserve help end up being victims of the government;s budget cuts. The reforms have, therefore, not taken into account some of the implications of reducing or temporarily suspending benefits of people, who are already struggling to make ends meet. Furthermore, I have noticed that most of the individuals who depend on food banks do not have high academic standards, which might also lead one to question the efficiency and affordability of the education system. As the cost of living escalates each year, most residents are being driven into desperation, and so they have to rely on food banks, which is quite embarrassing to some of the victims. In addition, the magnitude of food insecurity is yet to be determined since many families opt to suffer behind closed doors to avoid shame and social stigma that they may face from friends, relatives, or neighbors. Overall, the system is not doing enough to ensure that people get fair and equal treatment. Furthermore, some of the case studies provided by The Guardian are clear indications that the system is flawed and needs to employ effective reforms. What I Have Learnt and How It Has Helped Me I have learned that some of the government policies and reforms are not as effective as they should be, leaving many families to bow their heads in humiliation and accept donations. Understanding the severity of the situation has helped me realize how food banks are slowing down welfare reforms. The government might as well be reluctant to solve the food insecurity issue as food banks are seen as an alternative and not a temporary solution.; Before and After the Course At the beginning of this course, I was aware of the food insecurity situation in the UK, but I was not informed on how far the situation has affected thousands of families. As compared to the beginning, I feel more informed and aware of some of the contemporary issues that are silently killing people in the society. More importantly, I have gained more insight regarding my future research on issues, such as food insecurity and poverty. References Bradshaw, J., 2011. The well-being of children in the UK. Bristol: Policy Press. Butler, P., 2014. Government dismisses study linking use of food banks to benefit cuts. [Online] (updated 19 Nov. 2014) Available at: ;https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/19/cuts-benefit-changes-driving-up-use-food-banks-study; [Accessed: 29 December 2016]. Cooper, N., Purcell, S. ; Jackson, R., 2014. Below the breadline: the relentless rise of food poverty in Britain. London: Church Action on Poverty. Gentleman, A., 2013. What the welfare cuts mean for us: the feeling of dread never goes away. [Online] (updated 16 Dec. 2013) Available at: ;https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/16/welfare-cuts-government-coalition-benefits; [Accessed: 29 December 2016]. Milligan, B., 2014. Food banks see ;shocking; rise in number of users. [Online] (updated 16 Apr. 2014) Available at: bbc.com/news/business-27032642 [Accessed: 29 December 2016]. Social Care Institute for Excellence, n.d. An introduction to residential child care. [Online] Available at: ;scie.org.uk/assets/elearning/residentialchildcare/rcc01/resource/textonly/00113350_answer.html; [Accessed: 29 December 2016].

Assessment of Lipase Activity in Pancreatic Extracts Essay

Assessment of Lipase Activity in Pancreatic Extracts - Essay Example (Sizer, Piche and Whitney 2011). It binds the fat molecules on one end and the watery compounds on the other end. On binding to the fat, they form micelles. This process is called emulsification. Bile salts are the derivatives of cholesterol having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains. (Madenci and Egelhaaf 2010).The bile breaks down the large aggregates of triglycerides by binding them with the hydrophobic ends and separating the molecules from the aggregates. (Jenkins and Hardie, 2008).The droplets become smaller and smaller by binding to the bile. When the food enters the small intestine, the gall bladder contracts and sends the bile into the intestine. The gall bladder stores the end products of liver including bile salts. Pancreas is a long fat gland that is present behind the stomach and opposite to the first lumbar vertebra. Pancreas is made up of glandular epithelial cells. The clusters contain the acini cells called as acinar cells. (Williams 2001). Pancreas consists of a head, body and tail. Pancreas is connected to the duodenum by two ducts. Pancreas is the gland that contains both exocrine and endocrine parts. It has the retort shaped flask. It is 12-15 cm in length and weighs 90 grams. Every day pancreas produces 1200 – 1500 ml of pancreatic juice. (Pandol 2010). ... The exocrine pancreas secretes a juice containing two components: they are pancreatic enzymes and aqueous alkaline solution. The pancreatic enzymes are secreted by the acinar tissue containing the acini epithelial cells. (Williams 2001). The pancreatic enzymes are very important for our body because they can digest almost all the components of the food without the requirement of other enzymes. The aqueous water component is rich in sodium bicarbonate. The pancreatic enzymes are pancreatic amylase, pancreatic lipase, trypsin, chymotrypsin, carboxypeptidase, ribonuclease and deoxyribonulcease. The protein digestive enzymes are produced in the inactive form only. (Pandol 2010). Pancreatic lipases are the only enzyme that can digest the fat. The pancreatic lipase digests the triglycerides into mono glycerides and free fatty acids. The pancreas enzymes are very active in the neutral pH which is provided by the aqueous alkaline solution. Lipase binds to the oil-water interface of the trigl yceride water droplet and hydrolyzes the triglyceride. (Sherwood 2008). Bile acids and colipase are very important for the complete lipase activity. Bile acids increase the surface area for the action of the lipase enzyme. They form micelles with the fatty acid and monoglycerides. By this action the glycerides are removed from the oil-water interface. (Pandol, 2010). The triglycerides are now converted into mono glycerides, free fatty acids and glycerol. These molecules are not absorbed directly by the mucus lining of the digestive tract. The mucus lining have aqueous environment and glycerides are hydrophobic. (Reis et al. 2009). The bile salts shuttles the lipid molecules and enters the adsorptive cells of the intestinal villi. These cells are now

Concrete Constituent and Mix Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Concrete Constituent and Mix Design - Essay Example Natural heavyweight aggregates include materials such as goethite, limonite, barite, illmenite, magnetite, and hematite, with specific gravities (SGs) ranging from about 3.5 up to about 5.3, leading to concretes with unit weights up to about 4100 kg/m3 . For higher unit weight concretes, synthetic materials such as Ferro phosphorous (SG 5.8 to 6.8) or scrap iron and steel punching (SG 7.8) can be used, with resulting concrete unit weights of up to 6100 kg/m3. High-density aggregates are good attenuators of gamma rays and of fast neutrons, hence their use in radiation shielding. Although heavyweight concretes can be proportioned in much the same way as ordinary concretes, the aggregates tend to be harsh and have a tendency to segregate from the rest of the mix. As a result, both higher than usual cement contents and a higher ratio of fine to coarse aggregates are recommended. Normal Weight Aggregates Aggregates make up about 75% of the volume of concrete, so their properties have a la rge in?uence on the properties of the concrete (Alexander and Mindess, 2005). Aggregates are granular materials, most commonly natural gravels and sands or crushed stone. The role of the aggregate is to provide much better dimensional stability and wear resistance; without aggregates, large castings of neat cement paste would essentially self-destruct upon drying. Also, because they are less expensive than Portland cement, aggregates lead to the production of more economical concretes. These aggregates are used to make ordinary concrete having unit weight of 2300 kg/m3. In general, aggregates are much stronger than the cement paste, so their exact mechanical properties are not considered to be of much importance (except for very high-strength concretes). Similarly, they are also assumed to be completely inert in a cement matrix, although this is not always true, as will be seen in the discussion on the alkali–aggregate reaction. Light Weight Aggregates Light weight aggregates , which can be either natural or synthetic materials, are characterized by a high internal porosity. Ordinary concrete has a unit weight of about 2300 kg/m3, but lightweight concretes with unit weights as low as 120 kg/m3 can be produced, although they are accompanied by a significant decrease in concrete strength. Natural lightweight aggregates include pumice, scoria, and tuff; however, most light- weight aggregates are synthetically produced. The most common such lightweight aggregates are made from expanded clay, shale, or slate. The raw material is either crushed to the desired size or ground or then pelletized; it is then heated to 1000 to 1200Â °C. At these temperatures, the material bloats (or puffs up) due to the rapid generation of gas produced by the combustion of the small amounts of organic material that these particles generally contain. (The process is similar to that of popping popcorn.) Other materials, such as volcanic glass (perlite), calcium silicate glasses (sla g), or vermiculite, can similarly be bloated. Lightweight aggregates tend to be angular and irregular in shape and can be quite variable. b) Select one physical property and one mechanical property of aggregate and describe in detail the role and influence of these properties on the overall performance of the concrete. Particle Grading The particle-size distribution in a sample of aggregate, referred to as the grading, is