The document summarizes several activities exploring the properties and composition of concrete, including comparing how different additives like sugar and salt affect the curing process, examining how the ratio of aggregate materials impacts density, testing the strength of samples with various water-to-cement ratios and reinforcements, and analyzing whether adding waste leather cuts can increase the strength of concrete. The concluding experiments found that incorporating leather cuts did not demonstrably improve the strength of concrete samples.

1. M A N A _ G A S 1 0
B A D A N A L - S A K H A B R A M O H A M M E D H A Z E M
M U B A R A K A L - M A R R I
AL-Bairaq
I am Discovering Materials 10
Concrete

2. Outline
• Introduction
• Activity 1: Hunting for Object made of concrete
• Activity 2: Comparing Different Cement
Formulations
• Activity 3: Comparing Different concrete
formulations
• Activity 4: Testing Properties of Concrete
• Activity 5: Reinforcing Concrete
• Product Idea: Reinforcement Concrete with
Waste Leather

3. Introduction
 Concrete is made up of three basic components:
water, aggregate (rock, sand, or gravel) and Portland
cement. Cement, usually in powder form, acts as a
binding agent when mixed with water and aggregates

4. Activity 1: Hunting for Objects Made of Concrete
Photos of things made of concrete
Bridges Roads Houses

5. Activity 2: Comparing Different Kinds
of Cement
 Objectives
Add sugar and salt “CaCl2” to cement and observe
the effect on the hardening reaction
 Procedure

6. Activity 2: Comparing Different Kinds
of Cement
 Results
 Sample B took long time to react since sugar was
added
 Sample C contained salt and hence reacted faster

7.  Conclusion
Salt leaded to a faster reaction because it is a catalyst
Sugar leaded to a slower reaction because it is a
negative catalyst

8. Activity 3: Comparing Different Concrete Formulations
Part A: Observing How Aggregate partials Pack
 Objectives
Make three samples of aggregates and calculate its
density
 Procedure

9. Activity 3: Comparing Different Concrete
Formulations
Results
Conclusion
 The sample with the highest density is sample C,
 The best concrete formulation has 0.5 coarse aggregate to
total aggregates
Type of sample Mass g Volume cm3 Density
Sample A: Coarse
aggregate only
100 62 1.61
Sample B: Fine
aggregate only
100 59 1.69
Sample C: Mixed
aggregate
50:50
100 54 1.85

10. Conclusion
 Sample C is the best sample since it is the densest
because it follows the 0.5 coarse aggregate to total
aggregates rule

11. Activity 3: Comparing Different Concrete Formulations
Part B Making Concrete Samples
Objectives:
Preparing three samples of cement to be tested for the
strongest sample
Procedure:

12. Data
Sample Cement g Sand g Gravels g Water ml
E 60 120 120 33
F 60 120 120 39
Formulation Water to Cement
Ratio
E 0.55
f 0.65
Sample E+ is similar E but it has reinforcement which is: Cotton, wood and iron

13. Activity 5: Reinforcing Concrete
Sample Cement g Sand g Gravels g Water ml Water to
Cement
Ratio
E+ 60 120 120 33 0.55
Objectives
Add materials that acts as reinforcements to sample with
formulation E

14. Activity 4: Testing Properties of Concrete
 Objectives;
Testing the strength of prepared sample by measure how
much water load it can bear before breaking
 Procedure

15. Activity 4: Testing Properties of Concrete
Results
Sample Amount of water
needed to break the
sample
E 7.1
E+ 13.1
F 3.8
The testing of sample E shows it is the strangest sample since it is reinforce with
metal and cotton. This is the reason why concrete is reinforced with steel rods

16. Reinforcement Concrete with Waste
Leather
Purpose of the project and benefits
 Each year thousands of thousands of leather used in clothing industry
is thrown as waste when it not needed anymore
 This includes the leather used from making soles in this project
 If waste leather is added to concrete mixes it is possible to increase its
strength and make it gain some flexibility if is proven


17. Samples prepared and testing results
Sample Cement
g
Sand g Gravels
g
Water
ml
Leather
Cuts g
Weight
Kg
A 80 120 60 66 40 14.5
B 100 120 60 66 20 3.5
C 120 120 60 66 0 14

18. Conclusions
The testing of samples made with leather cut and
comparing the results with a common concrete
sample does not show any improvement in concrete
strenght

19. Acknowledgment
Many thanks to my teachers, school and AL-Bairaq team
from Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), Qatar University
for supporting us during our journey with a AL-Bairaq.
Also, I would like to thank the sponsors UNESCO, Qatar
National Commission, Ras Gas, Maersk and Shell.