Previous in Forum: Aluminum Finishing - Iridite at Home   Next in Forum: Mysterious Particles in My Heating Oil
Close
Close
Close
19 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
Power-User

Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: South Africa - Centurion.
Posts: 280
Good Answers: 3

Cement vs. Glue

05/26/2009 11:43 AM

What is the difference between gluing something together and cementing it together? What is the main difference between glue and cement?

__________________
Dreams are the blue print for reality.
Register to Reply
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#1

Re: Cement and glue!

05/26/2009 11:52 AM

Sematics?... or is that 'Cement-sticks' ?
If pressed, I'd yowl a bit and then say cement has a thicker 'glue line' than a glue...
That's my definition and I'm sticking to it. <groan>
Del

__________________
health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#5
In reply to #1

Re: Cement and glue!

05/26/2009 11:41 PM

It's semantics. And that's the truth. Plus context.

Glue, Bond, Adhere, Stick, Attach, Cement, Laminate are verbs meaning, "to join".

Glue, adhesive and cement are also nouns.

We can use glue, adhesive and cement to join things together. Pick your verb.

To me, glue is a noun and bond is a verb. I bond things, using adhesive.

Glue works on wood and paper.

Glue, adhesive, cement. Any one will do.

Register to Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#11
In reply to #5

Re: Cement and glue!

05/27/2009 2:31 AM

Oh..I wo dered where that 'n' had go e

__________________
health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Register to Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - Cardio-7

Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 621
Good Answers: 10
#16
In reply to #5

Re: Cement and glue!

05/27/2009 10:15 AM

Well, sort of, but when we talk about "the bond", isn't that a noun? The adhesion? The glue stick? The cement sidewalk, as an adjective, etc. "Glue this, please" where glue is a verb. Your "To me, glue is a noun and bond is a verb. I bond things, using adhesive" is open to many opinions, such as "to glue the shoe sole using the proper adhesive". It's really a case of the English language using the same word for many parts of speech, and the difference between non-technical vs. technical usage. Use the term "cement" to a mason, and he has a clear thought which may be completely different from your meaning.

Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#18
In reply to #16

Re: Cement and glue!

05/27/2009 11:18 AM

Yes, It depends on the people in the conversation. And what they do for a living.

I worked in aerospace industry for 20 years and we had terms that were not in use by Joe six-pack. No one in my department ever said "glue", unless they were sticking two pieces of paper together.

As the learned cat said, it's semantics. Actually, the learned cat said "sematics", but maybe that was just a slip of the paw.

Register to Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - Cardio-7

Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 621
Good Answers: 10
#14
In reply to #1

Re: Cement and glue!

05/27/2009 10:02 AM

Del, there is also a school of thought that says "cement" is a solution of things like polymers (rubber cement, but not rubber glue). Glue is usually made as such, rather than just being a dissolved substance: Elmer's Glue (PVAc/PVOH), PU glues, etc. But the usage of both terms is thoroughly confused as we diversify our product lines, as in epoxy cement vs. epoxy glue. We have tried to evade the question by using the term Adhesives.

Register to Reply
Guru
Hobbies - Fishing - Old Salt Hobbies - CNC - New Member United States - US - Statue of Liberty - New Member

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Rosedale, Maryland USA
Posts: 5197
Good Answers: 266
#2

Re: Cement and glue!

05/26/2009 1:24 PM

Glue is a bond used to adhere items together.

Cement is a binder used to encapsulate the items together with in it.

When cement is used to retain to items together as say bricks. Mortar is made of cement and fine sand. It is how the sand sets up(gets hard) in the cement in the roughness of the bricks surface that makes them adhere.

Glue can make a chemical bond or be mechanical as with the mortar.

__________________
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty, pristine body but rather to come sliding in sideways, all used up and exclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!"
Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Jersey U.S.A.
Posts: 1114
Good Answers: 38
#3

Re: Cement and glue!

05/26/2009 1:25 PM

As Del says it's all what you want to call it. Some companies inter-swap names for substances. I've also used cement that was close to a watery substance that melted acrylic together and cement that was so thick it had to be troweled on. Glues have ranged from plastic chemical fusing to hot glue that barely penetrates.

But then again I'm like Post Its, I don't stick to anything. (permanently)

__________________
The last fight was my fault. My wife asked "What's on the TV?" I said "Dust!"
Register to Reply
Associate

Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 47
Good Answers: 1
#4

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/26/2009 11:13 PM

I often asked the same question, On pipe cement the can states pipe cement but about every one refers to it as gluing the fitting together????

Register to Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member Netherlands - Member - New Member Fans of Old Computers - Commodore 64 - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Japan
Posts: 2703
Good Answers: 38
#6

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/26/2009 11:46 PM

as far as i know glue bonds more on a molecular level while Cement bonds more using irregular surface structure (it grabs more like a claw the really bonding to the material)

__________________
From the Movie "The Big Lebowski" Don't pee on the carpet man!
Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#7
In reply to #6

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 12:11 AM

Sorry, there is no bonding agent that shares electrons with the parent material.

Surface preparation and van der Waals forces allow irregular surface structure, on a microscopic (not molecular) level, to hold things together.

Solvents melt the parent material together, then evaporate. This may be confused with molecular bonding.

This is giving me a headache.

Register to Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member Netherlands - Member - New Member Fans of Old Computers - Commodore 64 - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Japan
Posts: 2703
Good Answers: 38
#8
In reply to #7

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 12:30 AM

Thanks for the clarification

if you have a headache stop sniffing the glue

__________________
From the Movie "The Big Lebowski" Don't pee on the carpet man!
Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#9
In reply to #8

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 1:28 AM

"But Mama, that's where the fun is".

Register to Reply
Power-User

Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Manila Philippines
Posts: 171
Good Answers: 8
#10

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 2:30 AM

Hi Quobaldt,

My simple answer is; as a joke "Spelling". but, seriously "Depending on Application" and how it works!.

Kind regards

Roman

Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#12

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 4:04 AM

In a traditional meaning cement is solid (powder)that needs to be mixed with water so that chemical reaction can start and the cement can "set in".

On the other hand glue binds the surfaces of objects together without addition of any other product.( water based or solvent based types)

Two components glues - better known as adhesives- rely on the chemical reaction between a resin and a hardner to form a bond.

Chuck Cowlagi

Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#13

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 8:39 AM

went-an'-go-checked ... webster weren't no he'p.

synonym for glue is 'cement'...

I wuz hopin to see a difference, as between "soap" and "detergent".

Sho 'nuff, we'll soon be to the point where you can use whutever wurd you want to say whutever you want.

I'ze willin to bet there ain't no sich thing as a "Honors English" class in high schools anymore. If'n there is, the kids are probably just LAUGHING at the teachers, after listening to today's broadcasters ... advertisers , news anchors , & journalists alike

...but that's another thread...

Register to Reply
Guru

Join Date: May 2006
Location: Placerville, CA (38° 45N, 120° 47'W)
Posts: 6215
Good Answers: 248
#15

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 10:07 AM

Wow! What a variation of interpretations!

Obviously 'cement' as a noun has two totally different meanings. One, as the binder in concrete, is a powder, while the others are all (that I can think of at the moment) liquids or gels. Oops, where does 'hot glue' fit into this picture?

I have no idea where my concepts originated, but I've always thought of glues as water-based, while to me, cements use some other solvent. As such, I've always thought of 'airplane glue' as a misnomer. It never did occur to me to 'sniff' the stuff, except as incidental to using it for building stuff. Again, 'hot glue' is clearly not water-based, so there goes my concept!

Clearly, this falls into the same category as 'pipe' and 'tube', from a while back...

__________________
Teaching is a great experience, but there is no better teacher than experience.
Register to Reply
Power-User

Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: South Africa - Centurion.
Posts: 280
Good Answers: 3
#17

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 10:25 AM

If glue and sement is the same thing as most of you replied...then why do glue come in small little bottles & is useless on bricks and sement comes in 50kg bags &can't be used for scrapbooking...?

__________________
Dreams are the blue print for reality.
Register to Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#19
In reply to #17

Re: Cement vs. Glue

05/27/2009 2:08 PM

So that's why my scrap book is so damn heavy
Del

__________________
health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Register to Reply Off Topic (Score 5)
Register to Reply 19 comments
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Poster (2); Cardio07 (2); charsley99 (1); digger104 (1); dkwarner (1); Epke (2); lyn (4); ozzb (1); Quobaldt (1); Roman (1); user-deleted-1105 (3)

Previous in Forum: Aluminum Finishing - Iridite at Home   Next in Forum: Mysterious Particles in My Heating Oil

Advertisement