It is unclear why the total heat at the final set time is larger for the sucrose-containing samples than for the etidronic acid-containing samples. In contrast, the heat at the initial set is very similar for both etidronic acid and sucrose. We speculate that the larger heat at the final set time, which is noticeable (green and red "x" in Figure ), could be caused by bleeding of the cement paste, which can not be fully ruled out at high retarder dosages. The final set is defined by the needle's inability to penetrate the hardening cement paste deeper than 4 mm. If the paste is bleeding, the needle will penetrate the top layer more easily, and consequently, the final set time will be reached later.