Comparing these measurements to bound water and strength shows how chemistry and physics are connected here: the exothermic events described above fit nicely with the time events reported in Figure . More specifically, the two-step process of water binding obtained with sodium carbonate fits with the long dormant period of heat flow, with a very good respect of chronology (the second increase of water binding at around 200 h corresponds to the second exothermal peak in isothermal calorimetry). The cases of sodium silicate and hydroxide are also consistent, as their main exothermal events match their respective inflection points on the waterbinding curves.