The theoretical determination of the load-bearing capacity of reinforced concrete beams under short-term loads using the concrete deformation diagram in the form of a fifth degree polynomial and its comparison with the results of experimental studies is considered. In the calculations of reinforced concrete structures using the deformation model of sections, the bending moments are calculated relative to the neutral line, which is located at a distance from the extreme fiber of the compressed concrete and limits its height. In the DBN of Ukraine, it is proposed to describe the concrete deformation diagram by a polynomial of the fifth degree or by a fractional-rational dependence, which was proposed and substantiated by the State Research Institute of Building Structures. Under these conditions, the theoretical bearing capacity of the reinforced concrete beam was obtained, which was also found experimentally. The authors conducted experimental studies of the load-bearing capacity of three series of beams of different types (three identical samples in each series): Series I - beams made of ordinary concrete; II series - steel-reinforced concrete beams; III series - beams of combined section, in which the lower (stretched) height zone is made of steel fiber concrete, and the upper (compressed) zone is made of ordinary concrete. Fiber, the total volume of which was 1%, was uniformly added to the composition of the concrete mass for the II and III series of samples during mixing. A comparison of the theoretical bearing capacity of a reinforced concrete beam with its value obtained experimentally shows that the theoretical value is quite significantly (1.36 times) higher than the experimental value.