The programmatic data analysis described above determines not only the characteristic times but also the corresponding physical values, such as heat flow values or gradients. For example, determining the time of largest acceleration t m also delivers the slope itself, i.e., the value of the maximum acceleration m. The retarders not only differ in their retarding efficiency as determined by one of the characteristic times but also influence the mechanism of hydration as reflected in the acceleration slope or the corresponding heat flow values. Here, we find distinct differences between the retarders, mainly sucrose and etidronic acid. As a general trend, the slope of the C 3 S acceleration decreases with increasing retarder dosage for all retarders studied. This corresponds to a generally observed pattern, i.e., the longer the retardation, the broader the main hydration peak and the lower the maximum heat flow . However, the decrease is much more pronounced for etidronic acid than sucrose (Table .2.5). At a dosage of 4 µmol g -1 sucrose exhibits a maximum acceleration of 3.9 × 10 -8 W g -1 s -1 while HEDP exhibits a maximum acceleration of 2.8 × 10 -8 W g -1 s -1 . Interestingly, it has been reported that the addition of low amounts of sucrose to pastes of C 3 S leads to a steeper acceleration and also higher maximum heat flow values . The exact origin of the different behavior of sucrose in C 3 S pastes and Portland cement pastes is not fully resolved yet. The pattern in Portland cement, i.e., the observed decrease in acceleration with increasing amounts of retarder, is also reflected in the characteristic maximum heat flow values Q. In general, the maximum heat flow decreases with increasing retarder dosage. Similar to the decrease in acceleration, the decrease of the maximum heat flow is more pronounced for etidronic acid than for sucrose at a comparable induction time (see Figure and Table .2.5). For example, at a value of approximately 50 h for t a (the time of maximum acceleration), the heat flow value at the peak maximum, i.e. Qmax , is 1.71 mW g -1 for sucrose and 1.30 mW g -1 for etidronic acid.