Done by spark plugs group at Albayan School. Under supervision from Al-Bairaq

1. AL-Bairaq
I am Discovering Materials 13th
Cycle
Polymers
Aseel Alsaad Moza Alsubaiei
Noor Haykal Shouq Alkaabi
Spark Plugs Group

2. Changing Polymer Pellets
Hunting for Polymer
Products
Designing a Humidity
Sensor
Banana and potato peels
are never waste anymore!
Testing the Strength of
Different Polymer Films
Activity 1 Activity 3
Activity 4 Design Project
Introduction:
Comparing the Viscosity of
Liquids
Activity 2
Product Idea

3. Polymers
A polymer is a large molecule made up of chains or rings of linked repeating
subunits witch are called monomers.
Natural:
Latex (Rubber Tree) , DNA , Wool, silk
Synthetic:
Polyacrylamide , Nylon , Plastic
Examples Of Polymers
monomer monomer

4. Changing Polymer Pellets
1. Preparing Pellets in beakers
Prepare two 0.5 g samples of polymer pellets
Record mass of the samples , Record your
observation, place each sample in a separate
beaker and label as Beaker A and Beaker B.
5. Recording mass
of pellets
3. Removing pellets 4. Pellets in plain water vs. salt water
2. Adding plain water
Remove the samples from the beakers , and
pat them dry with paper towel. Do not lose
any pf the pellets, Measure and record the
mass of each samples then put them back
into their beakers.
to compare what happens, simultaneously
add 10 ml of plain water to sample A and
10ml of saturated salt water to sample B .
Allow mixtures to sit for 10 minutes . Record
observations .
Filter any leftover liquid from the beakers .
Pat the samples dry with paper towel .
Measure and record masses of the samples.
Dispose pellets in the trash.
Add 10 ml of plain water to each beaker .
Allow mixtures to sit for 10 minutes , record
observations.

5. Observation:
Beaker A ( plain water) Beaker B (salt water)
Swelled because they
absorbed water .
Shrunk because they released
water .
Conclusion:
We have learned that the polyachrelamite has the function of shrinking and
swelling (Osmosis).

6. Hunting for polymers
Polymers are everywhere in our lives , in our food , in communication , in medicine ,
transportation , construction , clothing , believe it or not even our bodies .
Recycling code Properties
Strength
Flexibility
Texture
Density

7. Conclusion
1- Polyethylene is used more than other synthetic polymers .
2- The polymers have many properties like : strength , flexibility , texture , density .
3- The recycling codes are so helpful for our lives.
4- Plastics are used to manufacture an incredible number of products we use every day,

8. Comparing the Viscosity of Liquids
1- Examine the liquid in each vial without moving it .
2- Turn over one vial , observe how long it takes for the air bubble to reach the
opposite end of the vial .
3- Repeat the experiment .
To understand the meaning of viscosity and explore the effect of polymer
molecular weight and concentration on the viscosity of polymer solutions.
Objective:
Procedure:

9. We had compared the viscosity of methanol , ethylene glycol and glycerol
, which have similar chemical structure but different molecular weights .
Conclusion :

10. Activities 3: Comparing the Viscosity of Liquids
Objective: to understand the meaning of viscosity and
explore the effect of polymer molecular weight and
concentration on the viscosity of polymer solutions.
Procedure
1- examine the liquid in each vial without moving it .
2- turn over one vial , observe how long it takes for the air
bubble to reach the opposite end of the vial .
3- repeat the experiment .
Conclusion :
We had compared the viscosity of
methanol , ethylene glycol and glycerol ,
which have similar chemical structure
but different molecular weights .

11. Conclusion :
1- poly (vinyl alcohol ) M.W . 2000 gives better
results due to its high polarity and so holds on to
absorbed water strongly .
2- poly (vinyl acetate ) M.W. 100,000 gives better
results than poly (vinyl acetate ) M.W. 260,000 ,
because it is thinner and absorbs water quicker .
3- if the ratio of the polymer is very high , the
humidity sensor will be very thick , absorbs water
slowly and takes a lot of time to sense humidity
Design Project Designing a Humidity Sensor

12. Final Project:
Potato And Banana Peels Are Never Waste Anymore!
Plants are the backbone of all life on Earth and an essential resource for human well-being,
,plants are the main source of food for humans, Plants are the largest providers of textile and
fabric material and Plants are a great source of medicine even for life-threatening diseases.
Plants growing on land require a certain amount of salt to stay healthy. BUT too much of a
good thing is a bad thing. Salt concentrations beyond a plant’s tolerance level will damage or
even kill the plant. Some plants, such as tomatoes and onions, are intolerant of salt. At the
other extreme are salt-tolerant plants such as mangrove trees that live in salt marshes,
beaches and tidal environments.
After The siege on the State of Qatar we discovered that Qatar needs the biggest amount of
Agricultural crops to to fulfill the need of the State of Qatar food and to achieve the vision of
the country 2030 and also Qatar loses a big amount of water yearly and the state relies on
desalinating sea water for different life activities such as planting so our product provides
more crops for Qatar's future.

13. The vision outlines several distinct challenges facing Qatar's environment, which include a rapidly
growing population, increased air pollution, and damage to natural habitats. One method previously
employed by Qatar to address environmental issues was acquiring more advanced technology
according to this vision we looked forward for an advanced way to filter sea water (salt water) and
use it in planting with an easy less costing way.
This product will increase the national income and the economic activity for the state of Qatar when
the big companies use the product to plant more and produce a bigger amount of goods and items .
What attracted me to the Idea is that we all throw away our banana and potato peels with using
them in a good way also our idea is a kind of recycling and its environmental and helpful for those
countries that are water poverty and it increases the green areas .
It is a biology science because it includes food items such as bananas and potatoes
Training has helped to develop skills in polymers in general and to identify some polymers and their
properties
Introduction

14. Research question :
How does banana and potato peels make salt water appropriate for
planting?
After researching and experimenting the product we realized that the starch
(polymer in potato) absorbs salt from water and the water after all will be appropriate
for planting .

15. Procedure
First: we peeled 1kg of
potato's and bananas .
Fifth: we collected the
results about salinity
level
Third: we wrote our
observations about the
salinity level inside .
Fourth: we left the
container for 2 weeks.
Second : we soaked the
peels with 1l of sea
water.

16. The uses of our product:
To filter sea water and use it in planting when pure water is rare.
The benefits of the product
1- Low cost
2- Environmental
3- Less uses of energy
4- Facilitate
5- Can be applied in many uses
Did it solve the problems you designed it to solve? And to what extent?
Yes we planned to solve the problem of irrigation by filtering sea water using the peels , this
process is helpful for the extent specially for countries that relies on desalinating sea water for
different usages such as planting and lots of industries.

17. Conclusion
Overall of the polymers
Through our participation in AL-Bairaq project we learned about polymers
and their function by doing 4 different activities with designing a humidity
sensor , we looked forward for an advanced way to filter sea water
(salt water) by using potato and banana peels and use it in planting with an
easy , less costing way instead of throwing them , so we chose
“Potato And Banana Peels Are Never Waste Anymore!” as our final project.

18. Do you recommend (advice) that your product can be used for other new applications for it?
Sure , our product could be widely used in many ranges and in industries because all industries
need pure water
(‫حي‬ ‫شيء‬ ‫كل‬ ‫الماء‬ ‫من‬ ‫وجعلنا‬) as god said in the holy Quran that god created everything out of water.
Do you advice more investigation for improvement of the product or project?
Yes because the state of Qatar needs this idea specially these days after siege and the need of
national food products
If you faced obstacles in your experiments or testing of your product: what are they? And what
you need or advice to overcome them?
We faced only one problem and it was that the water that was filtered by the banana and potato
peels wasn’t 100% pure from salt
Recommendation's

19. We would like to thank our teachers, our school, AL-Bairaq
team from Center for Advanced Materials (CAM) and Qatar
University for supporting us during our journey with AL-Bairaq.
Also, we would like to thank the sponsors UNESCO, Qatar
National Commission, and Shell.
Acknowledgment